


I'm the One

by lelystra



Series: pick me (nayana) [7]
Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Drama, M/M, Romance, Secrets, Updating tags as I go, gender bender kinda?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2018-12-30 07:21:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 57,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12103614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lelystra/pseuds/lelystra
Summary: You make me feel so highI’m so crazy, the moment you look at meI’m so attracted, pull me more, baby- EnergeticA panwink and jinhwi drama





	1. Spring Day

**Author's Note:**

> Reading The Arrival of Spring/The Bitterness of Winter is recommended but not necessary. They're kind of just introducing the setting like the first chapter.

A month after the school year began, the cherry blossoms began to bloom. The sun shone warmly as students shed their blazers and sweater vests in favor of the short sleeve uniform. Kahi’s class, though began with a rough start, was slowly shaping up into a routine. She still glared and scolded harshly but students were now familiar with her rules to minimize penalties. Seonho tried his best to smile and be energetic. He thought that Kahi must be very stressed and wanted to do his best to make things better for her.

Sadly, after a week one student couldn’t take it anymore. He sobbed every day regardless if Kahi yelled at him or not. Seonho heard the rumor going around the school was that he suffered a mental breakdown and had to leave for treatment. Kahi didn’t change at all after hearing the news. So he was a bit surprise when she suddenly announced a transfer student.

“Come in and introduce yourself.” She ordered after starting homeroom. After a brief second, the one of the tallest kids he’d ever seen awkwardly walked into the room and stood at the front. He must’ve been at least 180 cm in height. His figure was lanky while his face was smooth and well proportioned. Seonho was immediately interested.

“H-hello, m-my name iss Lai Guanlin. I really w-wanna be a sw-swaggy rapper in the future, because I like hep hap. I’m from Taiwan so I can s-speak Mandarin, English, and I’m learning Korean. P-please look after me.”

He bowed awkwardly after his introduction while the class clapped. His pronunciation was definitely lacking as well as his volume. Seonho thought he might have some trouble with Kahi who was currently writing his name on the board.

“Go ahead and take a seat at that empty desk. Here’s the class handout on my rules.” She handed him a thirty page packet. He took it coolly and walked down the aisle with a yellow Vanza backpack slung over his shoulder. As he came closer, Seonho was startled to realize that the empty chair was right next to him. Excitement began to rise as he realized they’d be neighbors.

“Hi, I’m Yoo Seonho,” He whispered to Guanlin as he sat down. He just looked at him confused before comprehending and then responding with, “Guanlin.”

“No talking, Seonho!” Kahi spoke sharply. Disappointed, he mouthed to Guanlin, ‘Let’s talk later’. Confused look again, he nodded anyways.

 

\----

 

During all the breaks, several students came up to chat with Guanlin about his life and why he transferred. But it became apparent that his Korean wasn’t very good and he was slow to comprehend conversations. As they left him alone, Seonho was even more eager to speak with him. He hadn’t really made a good friend in the class yet but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. He was really friendly with them all but there was no that had stood out to him as someone really compatible. Guanlin changed that. No matter how chatty Seonho became, Guanlin never looked annoyed or tuned him out.

When the bell rang for lunch, he immediately turned to him to ask if he brought his own lunch. He shook his head after a moment and said, “I thought there is a cafeteria?”

“We only have a bread shop and a lunchroom. I usually make my own lunch to bring every day.” Just then Guanlin’s stomach let out a growl. He looked a little embarrassed but shrugged it off by saying he’d go buy bread for lunch since he didn’t bring anything. Thinking fast, Seonho immediately offered, “Do you want to share my lunch? The shop will be pretty crowded.”

He shook his head. “ No, it is yours. I can buy one.”

“No, really. It’s fine, I want to share.” Seonho insisted. Guanlin hesitated before finally accepting. He then realizes they only have one pair of chopsticks between the two of them.  
“Shall I feed you?” He teased, picking up a piece of food. Guanlin gave him a look before shrugging and taking a bite. “Since there is only yours.”

They took turns eating while occasionally giving a spare comment here and there. Guanlin began to relax over the course of the lunch period. Seonho thought that he must’ve been so anxious about moving to a new country and school.

The afternoon sun hazily passed through the open windows in the classroom. The sky was a beautiful deep blue with a few wispy clouds. The sound of clangs and shouts became apparent. As Seonho cleaned up the bento, Guanlin went to look outside the window. There’s a few kids playing in the basketball court. Seonho stood next to him to take a look.

“Oh, do you play?” He nodded with a big smile. “I were, I was the team captain in my middle school. I want to play again here.”

“Ah, me too! I was also a team captain!” He said excitedly. “I was thinking of trying out for the team here but I heard they’re really good so I don’t know if I’ll get in. We should try out together.”

“Ah, well, I don’t know if I want play competitively.” Guanlin said shyly, rubbing his neck. “Well, we can always play on our own then. Wanna go after school?”

“Ah, well, I have to take care of moving tonight...but maybe this week.” He said quickly.

Seonho agreed understandingly. He had to move into the dorms earlier this year. The building was pretty crappy though. The paint was chipping and the floorboards were old. The electricity flickered on and off and sometimes the communal stove didn’t work. There weren’t many other students living there so he assumed he just got the short end of the straw.  

Lunch finished soon after and the rest of the day passed without too much incident. It seemed that Guanlin had already gone through Kahi’s rules and really taken them to heart. At the end of the day, Kahi made a remark about how well behaved he was. That sent titters throughout the class. Such a compliment was rare to hear from her. Seonho was a little envious, but only a little.

They parted ways after school with the promise to hang out sometime. Seonho headed towards his dorm with a light heart. He stopped at a local convenience store beforehand to buy some Megaton bars to snack on later. Any kind of candy was okay to him but he loved chocolate especially.

When he reached his dorm, his hand almost dropped the plastic bag. The entire building was closed off and a construction crew was setting up with a bulldozer. Standing a ways from the site was the dorm manager with a pile of personal items. Seonho immediately dashed over.

“Manager! What’s going on?” He asked breathlessly.

“Oh, Seonho. So it turns out that I messed up the demolishment date. It was actually scheduled for today.”

“What?!”

“Yeah, they finally want to close down the building since it’s so old but I guess those people at Mnet forgot they put some students here. I think there was a mixup and you guys were supposed to go to another dorm.” He shrugged. “Well, I’m out of a job now. All I can tell you to do is to go to the school to get this straightened. Oh, but I saved all your stuff by the way. If you see any of the other boys, let them know too.”

Seonho was speechless. He didn’t know what was the worst part about this whole situation. Seriously, wasn’t he dreaming? Was this not part of someone’s weird twisted imagination?

After a long angry phone call to the Mnet board, he was finally reassigned to another dorm temporarily while they figured things out. He wanted to curse, cry, and scream all together. The sun was beating on him warmly and his forgotten ice cream bars had melted.

Sighing, he dialed the number of the only person he could think of that could possibly help him.

“Hello, this is Kim Jonghyun?”

“President Jonghyun? I’m Yoo Seonho, I’m a first year student. I’m in a bit of a pinch…”

After explaining his situation, Jonghyun instantly agreed to help him move his stuff.

“Yah, Mnet is really…” There was an angry sigh. “I’ll be there in fifteen.”

 

\----

 

Seonho was startled to see a pickup truck pull up next to him. A pretty face popped out of the driver’s window.

“Yoo Seonho?” He scrambled to his feet and nodded.

“I’m Choi Minki. Jonghyun sent us to help you. He got a little distracted with some things.” Someone else exited the passenger side. He was tall with a warm fox like face.

“I’m Hwang Minhyun. This is all your stuff here?” Seonho was stunned by both of their visuals. He vaguely recalled seeing both of them in the cafeteria at times. They always sat at the presidential table with Jonghyun.

Quickly he pointed out his things and helped them haul it onto the truck. As they worked, he couldn’t help but sneak peeks at how handsome they both were. And more than that, they were both quite friendly and reliable. Though he felt embarrassed at the hyungs seeing some of his things, they didn’t laugh or ask. A feeling spread through Seonho that he couldn’t quite identify. A sense of being taken care of? A sense of warmth?

“You’ll have to sit on the passenger side with me.” Minhyun said after loading the last of his things. Startled, Seonho only stared at him.

“Well you don’t want to walk right? It’s getting dark and it’s not safe for you to walk alone at night.”

Shyly, Seonho shuffled over, not sure of how it was going to work. Minhyun grabbed him by the waist and lifted him on top of him.

“H-hyung!” They wiggled for a moment trying to find a comfortable spot. “Wow, you’re a pretty big kid. You just barely fit.”

Seonho only blushed in response. His cheeks were so red. Why was this so embarrassing?

“Let’s go.” Minki said unbothered, starting up the car.

The drive was only twenty minutes but it felt like it took forever. Whenever Minhyun moved or shifted even slightly, Seonho could feel it. So he tried to stay still thinking that Minhyun would feel him move too. Though his eyes were on the road, he could only think about how soft and warm Minhyun’s body felt against him. He was a tall boy but Minhyun was still large enough so that he didn't feel that he was squishing him. Though Seonho already wore the seat belt, his arms wrapped around him in a warm embrace. This should’ve been awkward but he was amazed at how natural Minhyun seemed. Moreover, his hand rested softly against his thigh. Every once in a while his thumb would start rubbing him gently then stop.

“Sorry, it’s just a habit I do with my friends.” He whispered in Seonho’s ear. He wondered if all of Jonghyun’s friends practiced this amount of skinship. If Minki noticed any of what was going on, he simply didn’t care or was used to it already.

They finally arrived at the other dorm. Minki got out first and began to unload his things. Minhyun waited for Seonho but surprisingly he didn’t want to get up. It was so warm and cozy. Seonho had already decided that this hyung was going to be his.

“Seonho.” He nudged him.

“Hyung!” He suddenly turned around to hug him. Caught off guard, he immediately put a hand on Seonho’s face to stop him.

“Ack! Oh, I’m so sorry. You surprised me. But it’s time to get out now.”

Seonho pouted at him but reluctantly opened the door. Stepping out, he turned around to face Minhyun with puppy eyes.

“Hyung, I really like you a lot. Do you dorm here? Can I live with you?”

Minhyun looked really awkward and surprised before responding.

“I recently got a new roommate so unfortunately, I can’t dorm with you. But we’ll be neighbors.” He added seeing Seonho’s face fall.

“Are you guys going to help or what?” Minki called from the doorway. They apologize and quickly begin to help out.

“So, where’s my new room?” Seonho asked, carrying a giant box of clothes.

“To the left. There weren’t any open rooms so you’ll have a roommate.” Jonghyun’s voice came from across the hall. “I’m at the end of this hall if you have any questions.” His room had a bronze plaque above the door which read, “President.” He even had his own door bell.

Seonho entered his new room and couldn’t see much due to the box in his arms. But looking down, he saw the feet of his new roommate at his desk. Putting down his things, he spun around to bow to him.

“Seonho?” Hearing a familiar voice, he raised his head as the corners of his mouth began to lift.

“Guanlin?” Grinning stupidly at each other, they hugged excitedly.

“Yay, I can’t believe we’re actually roommates now. Wow, we’re gonna be such good friends now.” Guanlin just smiled contently in response.

“Wow, do you know each other?” Minhyun asked, bringing in another load. Seonho eagerly introduced his new friends to each other. Minhyun smiled kindly to Guanlin.

“This was actually my old room so you’ll find it’s very clean. I had to move recently but I’m actually just the room across the way.” He pointed to the open door where another guy sprawled on the bed waved lazily.

“That’s my roommate, Kim Jaehwan. If you smell anything bad or weird, it’s from him. Don’t be afraid to scold him if he’s being dirty.” Weird high pitched giggles came from the room while Minhyun shot him a killer look.

“Hyung, can I visit often?” Seonho gave him a sad look. “Yeah, of course.” Minhyun nodded. “But you know, Seonho, today was only because there wasn’t another seat in the car.” He gave him a look that Seonho chose to not understand.

“Hyung, don’t be so cold to me. We’re friends now.” He grabbed Minhyun into a hug. He sighed and patted his back.

“Glad to see you’re all becoming friends.” Jonghyun suddenly appeared. “Is everyone settling in okay?” Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Jonghyun,” Guanlin suddenly said. “Do you play basketball?” He laughed. “Why, all of a sudden?”

“Guanlin really likes basketball.” Seonho explained. “We’re going to play together soon. Want to play with us?”

“I’m usually pretty busy with student council things but Minhyun will do it.” Minhyun gave him an exasperated look and opened his mouth but then just shut it. Guanlin and Seonho were both thrilled to have made upperclassmen friends. Seonho soon found out that he moved to the best dorm ever. It was originally only for third years but the other dorms were full. So their building was the newest with modern perks like a stainless steel oven. And the other boys were really chill. Well, Jaehwan was a little weird but Seonho took it all in stride.

Later that night when everything winded down, they both got ready for bed. Guanlin complimented Seonho’s duck pajamas and Seonho liked his headband. As they turned off the lights, they said goodnight to each other. Before drifting off to sleep, Seonho thought he heard Guanlin say, “I’m glad I made a friend like you.”

Both boys slept with smiles on their faces.


	2. Angel Wings

The rainy season started early this year. As always, it came without warning and without fail. Life at school was fairly normal to the outside eye. Spring sports teams were in full swing, gearing up for their next game. After school club activities were always ongoing as well.

Guanlin and Seonho sprawled out on the grass under the shade of a tree. Sandwich wrappers, the remains of their lunch, were scattered beside them. Seonho’s eyes were closed as his head rested beneath his arm.

_ Ping. _

_ Ping _ .

After hearing the phone several times, he opened his eyes to see Guanlin sitting up hunched over his phone.

“Who is it?” He asked despite knowing the answer. He knew everything about Guanlin’s school life since they were frequently together. But lately, it felt like he was developing a secret life.

“Jihoon hyung. He wants to meet up in the library. His fanclub is looking for him again and he can’t come out.”

“Wow, must be hard being so handsome.” Seonho yawned. He didn’t say this out of jealousy, just to be clear. While he obviously fell short in comparison to top visuals like Guanlin and Jihoon, he still thought he was pretty decent. He wasn’t blind to some of the girls’ looks in the hallways. But the biggest point was how annoying it was to have a fanclub. Seonho didn’t even know how the girls came up with it. There were even rumors going around that a new fanclub for Guanlin was forming. But since no one could really understand him except Seonho, he was confident it wouldn’t go too far. Well, there was another exception…

Guanlin grabbed his backpack and the wrappers. “I’m going to the library now.” He threw their trash away and headed off. As Seonho watched his back disappear, he mused to himself that Guanlin’s Korean had gotten a lot better. He didn’t stutter as much anymore and sounded more natural and fluid. Of course, whenever he got flustered, which was a lot, his speech became quite awkward.

Seonho always liked to translate for him then. Recently, he’d heard people say their names together a lot. Guanlin and Seonho. Seonho and Guanlin. Surprisingly this pleased him quite a bit. Even Kahi looked to Seonho whenever Guanlin couldn’t answer a question. But ever since Seonho had gotten sick a few weeks ago, Guanlin would disappear from time to time. He found out that in his absence, Guanlin had made a new friend, an upper classman. Truthfully, Seonho was a little miffed about this. There was no reason for him to have friends other than him. But whenever he talked about Jihoon, he showed his gummy smile and a sparkle in his eye. So Seonho supposed the friendship was alright if Guanlin was happy.

\----

 

“Guanlin, I really like you. It’s ok if you don’t reciprocate the feelings, but I really want to date you.”

Guanlin stared blankly at the shy girl in front of him. She held out a carefully wrapped piece of chocolate as an offering. Behind her were two of her friends watching him like hawks making him feel even more nervous.

“Can you not give me an answer today?” Her hands trembled when he didn’t say anything.

“She even spent all night to make this chocolate. At least answer her.” One of her friends said glaring at him.

“Uh, that is, um…” His arm rubbed his neck awkwardly. Why did this have to happen when Seonho wasn’t here? He always helped him out with communicating. All he wanted to do was see Jihoon but right when he was about to reach the library, these girls cornered him. They insisted they had to talk to him right that moment. And then it led to this.

The girls were still waiting for an answer while he was mentally panicking inside. A mix of three different languages swirled in his head. How could he say no gently? He didn’t want to offend them but at the same time he didn’t really want to talk to them either. This would be so much easier at an all boys school.

“What’s going on?” All heads turned to the library door which swung open. Jihoon came out and approached the situation. The friends in the back changed their expression as fast as Teacher Kahi did when she was about to scold someone. But instead of anger, these girls’ expressions shifted to excitement.

“Jihoonie!” They squealed. He quickly put a finger to his lips and they hushed. “You’re being noisy outside of the library.” He reprimanded them. Amazingly, they quickly apologized with teary looking faces.

“We’re just here to support our friend. She wanted to confess to Guanlin.” One explained gesturing to him.

“Um, I, I’m trying-” “Guanlin has plans with me so you’ll have to leave now.” Jihoon folded his arms.

“Aww,” the girls sulked and looked disappointed. The one who confessed looked like she was about to cry. Guanlin felt bad but it was really for the better that the crush ended now since he didn’t reciprocate feelings.

“I’m sorry b-but I like someone right now.” He suddenly blurted out. They all gaped at him in shock. The girl threw the chocolate on the ground and ran away sobbing. Her friends chased after her, calling her name. Immediately Guanlin wondered if he made things worse.

Jihoon turned to him with a hand over his mouth. “Sorry, was it too much?” He apologized looking at him worriedly. Would Jihoon not like him anymore? A sound came out of his mouth and he realized that he was actually laughing.

“Wah, Guanlin, you’re really something.” He threw his arm around Guanlin’s torso as he was too short to reach his shoulders. They walked into the empty library together. The sunlight revealed a thick layer of dust over the unread books. Very few people came to the library as it was a ways away from the other buildings. Guanlin asked if there was a librarian but no one seemed to know. It was almost like an abandoned building which made it perfect for them to hide out. Guanlin reminisced about the first day that he met Jihoon just a few weeks ago.

 

**Flashback**

“Okay kids, class is dismissed for the day.” Kahi said as the bell rang. Despite the noise of other kids in the hallway, no one in the class moved. “Remember boys, that I get paid for my job even if it’s a shitty salary because Mnet is a cheapskate. And that’s the only reason why I tolerate you. Now get of here. I don’t wanna see you again until 8 am tomorrow morning.”

Everyone then scrambled out of their seats. Guanlin was about to clear out too when he heard Kahi call his name.

“This is the homework for Seonho. Tell him to finish it by the beginning of class tomorrow.” She handed him a stack of papers.

“We did not do this today.” Guanlin replied confused. “No, the bottom packets are from today. The rest are just extra work for being sick.” He didn’t dare say anything as Kahi placed two more books on top of the stack.

“Take these to the library for me. It’s in that direction.”

Guanlin followed where her finger pointed since he couldn’t see her face anymore behind the books. Carefully, he exited the classroom, trying not to bump into anyone. The kids gradually thinned out the closer he got to the building. At first glance, it seemed closed but upon closer inspection, the lights were on inside.

He set down the papers and put his backpack on top so they wouldn’t fly away. Books in hand, he cautiously entered the library. Rows of books greeted him with tables and chairs parsed in between. A worn out looking front desk was to his right.

“Excuse me?” He called at the desk. Silence greeted him. Maybe I should just leave the books here, he thought to himself.

“Do you need something?” Startled, he spun around to see a boy emerge from the shadows. He was shorter and a little chubby yet his face was almost dazzling.

“Ah, I just, uh, need to return these books.” He gestured to them on the counter. “Do you work here?”

The boy shook his head. “You can just leave them there. Someone will sort them tonight by although I've never seen anyone work here.”

He nodded his head in thanks but was reluctant to leave. Upon a closer look, the boy’s face was extremely aesthetic. His eyes curled upward like a cat’s. The color was a rich dark brown like his own eyes. Guanlin thought this was the most beautiful boy he’d ever seen. Jihoon noticed him staring which made him look away, flustered, but somehow Jihoon also seemed embarrassed about something. 

“Um, sorry if this is random, but do you play basketball a lot?” His cheeks were turning red. After he nodded, he continued. “It’s just that I’ve seen you play a lot from the window. You can see the courts from here.” He gestured to the window in the corner and Guanlin came closer to take a look. He was indeed right about the courts. Taking another look inside, he noticed a beanbag chair set up with snacks, a drink, and books next to it.

The boy saw him looking and shyly laughed. “Food and drink aren’t allowed so don’t tell anyone. I just like to come here a lot during breaks.”

Guanlin smiled back. “I am Lai Guanlin. I am exchange student from Taiwan. I am a first year.”

“I’m Park Jihoon. I’m a second year. Wanna sit down?” He patted on the beanbag. Guanlin accepted without hesitation.

**End flashback**

 

Ever since then, they’d continually hang out in the library after school, on the weekends, just whenever. It was like a secret spot just for them. Somehow, even from the beginning, they clicked together really well. Sometimes they sat in silence reading books and manhwa. Guanlin found it refreshing from Seonho who always had an open mouth to chat. His energy seemed to match Jihoon’s frequency. But they also talked about things as well, like their hobbies and their lives. It was comfortable and relaxing. Guanlin really liked Jihoon.

“I thought you were hiding from the fanclub?” He asked with a laugh.

“Ah, well, I couldn’t leave you defenseless like that.” His cheeks reddened. Guanlin thought it was so cute how Jihoon got red so easily. He had explained to him it was something he'd always had as a child. 

“Heh, thanks, you really saved me. That’s the first time I’ve had that happen.”

They both plopped down on the beanbag. At first, they had politely sat upright and gave each other some space. Now that they knew each other well, they rested their bodies against each other and laid back. The warmth radiated from Jihoon to Guanlin who cycled it back to him again. Because Jihoon was squishy, he was really comfy.

“Really, the first time? Haven’t you had other girls confess?” He turned to look at him and their faces became close. Guanlin could see himself in the reflection of his beautiful dark eyes. Not for the first time, he was jealous of them. 

“Hyung, I’m not like you.”

“What do you mean? You’re really handsome. It’s not surprising to have lots of girls chase after you.”

“You’re more handsome. It makes more sense that girls confess to you.” They chuckled together lightly.

“But you know, Guanlin, it’s really hard to have a fanclub of girls. I wish they would be my friends instead. But for whatever reason, they’d rather watch me from a distance. I honestly find it a little creepy.” Guanlin nodded understandingly. He placed his hand on top of his in support. His larger fingers covered his hand. Jihoon looked small, like a baby. 

“To tell you the truth, I’m actually not interested in girls that much.” He continued slowly. He glanced at Guanlin with a guarded expression in his eye. Guanlin barely showed any surprise and replied, “Me too.” Jihoon gave him a slow smile of delight. Everything about this boy radiated warmth that Guanlin soaked in like a newly hatched baby chick.

They were silent for a few minutes enjoying each other’s company. A gentle breeze floated through the open window. The faint chatter of students could be heard in the distance. Guanlin suddenly wished he weren't so tall as he wanted to lean his head against Jihoon. His arm itched to pull him closer.

“Were you lying?” Jihoon abruptly asked, looking up at him again. His pupils seemed to waver. “About what?” Guanlin answered absentmindedly. 

“About having someone you like.” He answered shyly. His fingers nervously twitched together.

Now it was Guanlin’s turn to be embarrassed. “Ah, that, it’s not, it’s not a lie.” He stuttered not able to look him in the eye. Instead he stared hard at a feather sticking out of the chair. There was a pause when he suddenly became aware of his own breathing. His heart seemed to pound in his ears. After a moment that felt like hours, Jihoon spoke again.

“Who is it? Someone I know? Ah, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” He waved his hand reassuringly.

“Kind of.” Guanlin mumbled. “Do you have someone? That you like, I mean.” Quickly, he fired the question back. Jihoon laughed nervously and ruffled his hair.

“I do. It’s kind of a secret though.”

Guanlin felt his heart drop to his stomach. Of course, he had someone. And with his looks and soft personality, anyone would be a fool not to reciprocate feelings back. He yanked the feather out of the fabric and spun it around in his fingers.

“I can tell you though, since I think you should know.” Their eyes met again for a second before they both blinked away shyly.

“Ah, I guess if you want.” Guanlin wondered who it was. He didn’t know many second years to try to guess. But then again, it might be a third year too. Whoever it was, was pretty lucky. He tried not to let bitter disappointment wash over him.

“Okay, close your eyes and absolutely don’t peek.” His voice became a little high pitched. Obediently, Guanlin closed his eyes and waited. He thought that maybe Jihoon wanted to write it down on a piece of paper. Maybe he was too embarrassed to say it out loud. Despite his adorable appearance, Jihoon was really shy about a lot of things. 

What felt like a minute passed without hearing anything. He tried to wait a few seconds longer but there was only silence.

“Jihoon? Are you d-”

Softly, lips pressed against his. The feather dropped from his fingers. Shocked, he fluttered his eyes open to see a quick glimpse of Jihoon’s pink face in front of his before immediately shutting them again. His lips were warm and slightly chapped. Guanlin gently kissed back and noted that his lips were fuller and covered Jihoon’s. His heart felt like it was about to burst and wondered if Jihoon could hear it too. He thought that maybe this is what heaven felt like.

After a blissful moment, they broke away. Eyes still closed, he took deep breaths to calm himself done and heard Jihoon’s heavy breathing as well.

“Um, why are your eyes still closed?” Jihoon’s voice shook slightly with emotion.

“You didn’t say to open them yet.” He answered, still not looking. Jihoon giggled and a smile spread across Guanlin’s face.

“Okay, okay, you can open them.” The first thing in his sight was Jihoon’s shining face. It was just as red and fluffy as before but Guanlin felt like he was viewing him with completely new eyes. Jihoon kept looking from the floor to him to the floor again.

“Is the person you like, perhaps me?” Guanlin ventured a guess. Although he was 95 percent sure it was, he decided it was better to get a confirmation to make it 100 percent.

Jihoon gave a small sigh and raised his hand to his forehead. “Yes, Guanlin. I like you.” His heart soared and his cheeks couldn’t stretch any wider.

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

Guanlin couldn’t do anything but continue grinning at him in sheer stupidity. His brain had stopped functioning.

“Is the person you like, perhaps me?” Jihoon echoed him, peeking up at him with an expression of uncertainty.

“Of course it’s you, dummy. The only person I like is you.” He laughed. Jihoon broke into a smile of relief. They looked at each with honey dripping out of their eyes.

Suddenly Guanlin was overcome with a desire to tackle him in a great bear hug.

“Wah!” Jihoon cried, laughing as Guanlin snagged him. They rolled off the chair and onto the floor. Jihoon lay below him as Guanlin put his head on his chest just like how he wanted to do before. With an ear on his heart, he heard the familiar fast paced pitter patter that echoed his own heart. This was truly his happiest moment after entering the country.

“Guanlin?” After they calmed down, Jihoon spoke again.

“Hmm?” He raised his head to look up at him now. It was a new angle to have Jihoon be the taller one. He kind of liked it.

“Do you want to date now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SOFT RN  
> I made my sons so happy but for how long...  
> Anyways, the next chapter may or may not be Jinhwi. Depends on how the current chapter I'm writing goes.


	3. Like Lovers

_ A day in mid-April, two weeks prior to Jihoon’s and Guanlin’s confessions. _

 

Six weeks of school had passed and Daehwi was loving his new school life. While he still tried to see Samuel every once in a while, the majority of his time was spent with his new best friend, Bae Jinyoung. After that first fateful encounter, Daehwi felt like they were destined to be together. They ate lunch together every single day. Daehwi noticed that Baejin always bought bread for lunch so he shared his bento whenever he could. Lee Woojin complained that he could hear Daehwi’s stomach growl all afternoon but he didn’t care. He was full on love. 

At home, he had asked his mom to teach him how to make a bento. “Oh, did you meet someone special?” She’d asked with a twinkle in her eye. “Moooomm,” he’d protested but unable to deny her question. Of course his mom knew everything. Nevertheless, she’d obliged and soon Daehwi would be able to make a whole separate bento just for Baejin. He couldn’t wait to see the look of surprise and appreciation in his eyes when he showed him his hard work. 

They weren’t always alone for lunch though. Sometimes they were joined by Baejin’s friends and classmates. One was a sassy kid named Hyungseob. He often complained about the mundane parts of his life and frequently wrote on his laptop. It turned out he was a semi-popular blogger under the username flowerseop99. Daehwi read one of his blog posts once but it was a love letter to music. 

Another was a nerdy looking kid named Heeseok. He wore thick black frames which covered most of his face and had shaggy black hair. If his face wasn’t covered by his glasses then it wasn’t covered by a thick book. He never talked much but his books were always related to technology and engineering. Daehwi thought that he was the kind of kid who’d go to a prestigious college and become rich in his future. 

But Daehwi liked it best when it was just the two of them like today. The weather was good so they’d gone out to the field to eat. He took off his hoodie and spread it on the grass for them to sit on. 

“Won’t you get cold?” Baejin’s concern was so heartwarming. He stood over Daehwi who had already plopped down. Daehwi shook his hand and patted the space next to him. 

“If I get cold, you can just warm me up, hyung.” He flashed him a big smile as Baejin took a seat. Seemingly unaffected, he replied, “Just let me know when you get cold. You can have my jacket.”

“Hyung, I’d rather have your warmth.” Daehwi wrapped his arms around him in a side hug and bounced like a puppy. Finally, Baejin’s face broke into a smile as he looked down towards Daehwi. 

“Alright, I get it. Let’s just eat now. Are you sure, I didn’t need to buy bread? They’re probably sold out by now.” Baejin had mentioned several times before that he was fine buying his lunch from the school shop. 

“No, it’s okay. My mom packed extra food today.” Daehwi pulled out two bentos and began to unwrap them. 

“But I feel bad that you’re always giving me some of your lunch. I can like, pay your mom back for the food or something.” Baejin protested the food but once Daehwi opened the lids, his eyes turned to wolf eyes. There was an array of fish, vegetables, and fruit topped on rice. The second box contained even more rice with kimchi and fish cakes. 

“Well, if you really wanted to pay me back then you should take me out to eat somewhere.” Daehwi gave him a teasing look but actually, he was serious about going out with him somewhere. They had only hung out outside of school a handful of times and it was never long. Both of them had curfews and Baejin had cram school. 

“Say ahh,” Daehwi held up a bite with chopsticks after Baejin mumbled an affirmative reply. Now he laughed in exasperation seeing Daehwi wanting to feed him. As the seconds passed, he realized Daehwi was being serious and his ears started turning red. Looking both ways, he reached forward and snatched the bite quickly, imitating a pigeon pecking at seeds. 

Daehwi laughed as Baejin gave him a glare that melted into a smile. Baejin reached for the second pair of chopsticks but Daehwi was faster and held it out of his reach.

“Come on, Daehwi. Let me eat.”

“Let me feed you then.” 

Baejin tried lunging for the chopsticks but Daehwi simply backed up with a mischievous giggle. Once more, he tried to reach the chopsticks.

“Seriously, Daehwi. I wanna eat.” His expression had turned stern making Daehwi falter. 

Pouting, he handed over the utensils. “You’re no fun,” he muttered under his breath. In a flash Baejin’s face shifted into a cunning fox. With a crooked grin, Baejin picked up a piece and held it out.

“Say ahh,” he imitated him from moments ago. Daehwi immediately sat up straighter and opened his mouth like he was at the doctor. The fish came closer and closer to his mouth until at the very last second, Baejin pulled it back and stuck it in his own mouth. 

“Mmm,” his eyes stared dead into Daehwi’s with impish glee. If Daehwi could’ve opened his mouth any wider, he would’ve. 

“Jinyoung!” He swatted his shoulder playfully. 

“Better hurry up or I’ll eat it all.” Baejin’s teases combined with his dazzling smile gave Daehwi flutters in his heart. He didn’t think there was anyone out there more perfect for him. 

 

\----

 

Five more minutes. Five more minutes, and then school would be done for the day. Daehwi was squirming in his seat impatiently. Jinyoung had promised to walk home with him. It wasn’t the first time but it happened rarely enough that it was still an exciting event. 

Someone poked his shoulder. He knew it was Lee Woojin even before turning around. 

“Your boyfriend is here,” he whispered, gesturing to the door. Through the glass, he could make out Baejin’s face. An elated smile spread on his face before he registered what Woojin had just implied. 

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Daehwi replied defensively. Woojin rolled his eyes in return. “Not yet you mean. When are you gonna ask him out?” 

“Well, I’ve been hoping he might ask me first,” Daehwi admitted, sheepishly. Woojin let out a scoff. “As if that blockhead will initiate anything. You’re definitely more in love with him than he is with you.” 

Daehwi felt stung by Woojin’s bluntness. Although deep down he thought it might be true, it still hurt to hear. He’d been trying so hard to get Baejin to look at him and sometimes it worked and he felt like he was on top of the world. But at times, Baejin wouldn’t play along with him. Sometimes he’d be distant and Daehwi didn’t know what he could do to close that gap. If he was too much of a nuisance, he was afraid Baejin would push him away. 

“Daehwi! Woojin! Eyes up here!” Yumi admonished them before Daehwi could retaliate. With a huff, he turned back to the front, vowing not to speak to Woojin for a day. 

When the bell finally rang he practically leapt out of his seat and rushed to meet Baejin. He was suddenly desperate to prove Woojin wrong. 

“Did you have a good day?” Baejin smiled at him as he emerged from the classroom. The way he asked was almost like a husband asking his wife how her day was. 

“I missed you!” Daehwi swiftly pulled him into an embrace, perfectly playing his role as the wife. Startled, Baejin looked around abashedly. His ears were turning pink. His hands gave a little push signaling it was time to stop. 

“I missed you too.” He responded lowly, scratching his head awkwardly. See? Daehwi thought with smug satisfaction. Jinyoung likes me just as much. They began walking down the hall. Students were fluttering about, chattering in friend groups or packing up to leave. 

“I really like being with Jinyoung hyung,” He spoke loudly. Baejin showed him an apprehensive smile. 

“Me too. I really like being with you a lot too.”

“But I mean,” Daehwi continued, “We’re so compatible we could be soulmates.” 

“Like, best friends?” He gave a nervous laugh. 

“Like lovers.” 

Baejin stopped dead in his tracks as heads turned in the hallway. Girls started to giggle and whisper to their friends. Maybe he’d been a little too loud, Daehwi reflected a little too late. Looking up, he saw that from the tip of his ears to the tip of his nose, Baejin’s entire face was beet red. His expression was some kind of cross between alarm and chagrin. 

“Hyung, are you okay? You look like a tomato.” When he didn’t respond right away, Daehwi waved his hand in front of his face. All of a sudden, he grabbed his hand and dashed down the hall with Daehwi in tow. 

“Wait, hyung! It hurts!” Daehwi stumbled trying to keep up with him. People gave them strange glances as they passed by but Daehwi didn’t care. Finally Baejin dragged him into an empty classroom and shut the door. 

Daehwi leaned over, resting his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. His wrist was red and sore from where Baejin had gripped it. He wasn’t sure what was going on but Baejin’s countenance was unreadable. 

“Do you even know what you’re saying?” He folded his arms and leaned up against the door. “Because you need to be careful of what you say if you don’t mean it.” 

Confusion filled Daehwi’s brain. This was not how he’d imagined the conversation going. In his dream scenario, Baejin would’ve answered with something like, “I feel the same way. Let’s date.” And then they'd kiss and ride off into the sunset. How had he miscalculated?

“You mean about being lovers? Because I do mean it. I do love you. I’ve wanted to be with you since the first time I saw you. I know it was sudden but I just can’t stop my feelings from spilling out.” His voice cracks and he cringes inside. Something wet slides down his cheek. He wondered if it’s raining until he remembers they’re inside. 

Oh, I’m crying, he thought to himself miserably. Bringing a hand up, he swiped at his face. It’s so embarrassing to have Baejin see him like this. 

“But I never know if hyung feels the same way, so… so…” 

His throat closed up and his tongue felt thick and heavy. A blurry Baejin approached and Daehwi mentally prepared for a rejection, a scolding, even a slap. What he wasn’t prepared for was Baejin’s arms wrapping around him. It made him cry harder. 

He wasn’t sure how long they stood like that. All he was aware of was the sound of his own muffled sobs and the feeling of Baejin slowly patting his back in a soothing manner. His mind was a muddle. Why was Baejin being like this? Did he like him back or was that too much to hope for?

At last when Daehwi’s tears dried, they separated. He took a step back and tried to get his feelings back under control.  _ Hiccup. _ As best he could anyways. Moments passed but Daehwi didn’t trust himself to be able to speak calmly yet. Unable to face Baejin, his gaze fixed to his feet. 

“Daehwi-yah, I love you too.”

Was he going crazy? Did he hear that right? Daring a glance at Baejin’s face, he saw that he was also staring down at the floor with an embarrassed look.  _ Hiccup. _

“Really? You’re not just saying that?” His voice shook with uncertainty and fear. 

“Really. It’s just my first time having someone confess to me.” Finally, he looked directly at Daehwi with a tight smile. 

“Really? You’re not mad?”  _ Hiccup _ . A creeping hope began to spread through him. 

“No, I'm not,” he took a deep breath. “I’m not mad. You just surprised me, that’s all.” 

Like the skies after a rainstorm, Daehwi’s face shone like rainbows. 

“You don’t even know how happy this makes me. I was so afraid.” He bit his lip. “I was afraid you didn’t like me back,” he admitted feeling the lump rise again in his throat. 

“Oh, Daehwi, I’m sorry I made you feel that way.” He reached forward to stroke his shoulder in apology. “It’s just really hard for me since I’ve never been in a relationship. I’m-”

“So I’ll be your first boyfriend then?” Daehwi jumped, reinvigorated by the confirmation of requited love. Baejin resembled a deer in the headlights at this. 

“Um, well-”

“Isn’t it fine?” Daehwi interrupted, desperately. “Since we like each other, it’s only natural for us to date.”

“Well, I’m not sure…” An expression passed across his face that Daehwi couldn’t identify before he turned to look down again. 

“Just trust me, hyung. I promise I’ll be the best boyfriend ever.” He held his breath as he waited for Baejin’s decision. He didn’t want to think of what he’d do if Baejin didn’t agree.

“Well, okay.” He voiced his agreement but didn’t meet Daehwi’s eyes. At this point though, Daehwi only cared about the fact that he was now dating the love of his short life. 

“I promise I’ll do everything to be a good boyfriend and not cause trouble and treat you well.” He babbled on and on. His brain was still a mess but for entirely different reasons now. 

“Don’t worry too much about all that relationship stuff. It’s fine if we just do things like before.” Daehwi nodded enthusiastically, not really listening. He reached out to hold Baejin’s hand but he pulled it back. Confused, he looked to him for an explanation. 

“At school, it’s a little…” Baejin’s eyes flickered, seeking a way to tell him. 

“Ah, it’s a little too soon?” Daehwi guessed. “Well, it’s okay. We have all the time in the world to get used to each other since we’ll be together forever, right hyung?”

Daehwi skipped out of the room, taking in the fresh air with a new mindset. After a moment, Baejin emerged from the classroom as well, trailing behind him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jinhwi finally appears. lol I wrote this all today because I realized this needs to come before my next chapters.   
> Thanks for the comments, guys. I know my writing skills could use improvement but I'm so motivated to write this drama that I've already outlined.   
> I love all my produce kids even if I write them a little shady...


	4. The Talk

_ “Do you want to date now?” _

 

The question had been buzzing in Guanlin’s ear since yesterday afternoon’s great revelation. He stared down at his notebook, tapping his pencil anxiously but not writing anything. Though he’d been happy that Jihoon also felt the same way about him, dating was something entirely else. As a fifteen year old, he didn’t have much dating experience. Actually, none at all. Was it even okay to date at this school? He really didn’t have much information which meant he had to do some research. 

“Seonho?” He asked, looking up to the boy across the room. He was lying on his bed, belly down, playing a game on his phone. His thumbs mashed furiously against the screen.

“Hmm?”

“Have you ever dated anyone before?”

The phone fell out of his hands and his phone sent him a game over. 

“What? Why are you asking? Are you interesting in dating?” He sat up and had a mischievous twinkle in his eye. 

“I, uh, well…” Guanlin felt his cheeks go red and he looked down at his desk. How could he explain this? 

“Oooh, who’s the lucky person?” Seonho teased. 

“Just someone.” He mumbled not feeling like telling him. 

“Is this ‘someone,” he put up air quotes, “a devastatingly handsome second year whose last name happens to be Park?”

Guanlin looked away not saying anything before giving a small nod. 

“Hehe, it was really obvious, Linlin. So, you guys like each other, huh. I’m jealous. I wish Minhyun hyung would love me back too.” 

Guanlin chuckled a little while Seonho brought up Minhyun. Ever since he’d helped Seonho move in, he was all Seonho ever talked about. 

“Yeah, so, uh, I guess I was wondering what you think? Should I date Jihoon?” He rolled his pencil on the notebook absentmindedly. The response was immediate. 

“Of course. If you guys both like each other then there’s no reason not to date, right?” 

Seonho had a point but he couldn’t help but feel like there was something else they still needed to say. 

“But I mean, are you okay with it? I just, really value you as a friend you know?” He tried to convey his feelings through eye contact. Seonho had always looked out for him since he came to this school as he didn’t have many friends. Guanlin would consider him his best friend, actually. So it was important to him that Seonho approved their relationship. 

“Well, okay,” he sighed. “I guess I am a little miffed you have someone else besides me. But I’ve seen how happy Jihoon makes you. I don’t know him that well but I think you’d be good together.”

Guanlin felt his heart shoot happy signals to his brain. His cheeks suddenly hurt and he realized it was because he was grinning so hard. 

“See? You’re smiling like crazy just thinking about him.” Seonho rolled his eyes as he picked up his phone game again.

“Thanks, that really means a lot to me.” Guanlin responded sincerely. 

“But to answer your question, I’ve never dated anyone so I can’t give any good advice. But Minhyun hyung might. Let’s go ask him!” Seonho put down his phone again and hopped off his bed. Guanlin was pretty sure he only suggested it as an excuse to talk to Minhyun but it was possible the senior might have experience. Reluctantly, he got up to follow him. 

 

\----

 

“So we’re going to have the talk, then?” Minhyun stared awkwardly at the carpet in their dorm. The two boys in front of him leaned forward eagerly. They were seated on the floor in Seonho and Guanlin’s dorm as there wasn’t enough space in Minhyun’s. Jaehwan’s dirty clothes were everywhere and the little rat was hiding so Minhyun couldn’t reprimand him. 

Seonho had knocked on his door and he was initially going to pretend he wasn’t home. The kid had suddenly latched onto him like a baby chick missing its mother. Now, he knocked on his door for the silliest of reasons just so he could get a hug or pat. Minhyun liked him well enough but sometimes it was just too much. 

But this time Guanlin had also asked for him so he was curious to see what it was about. If he’d have known it was about this then he probably wouldn’t have answered the door. 

“I just need some advice for a first relationship.” Guanlin looked as stiff as he did. Seonho slowly inched forward to put his head on Minhyun’s lap. He sighed and petted his head at which Seonho murmured in contentment. Minhyun wondered if he got enough love as a child. 

“Well, I would say that trust and communication is the most important thing.” Guanlin nodded seriously taking notes with pencil and paper. Minhyun felt like there was a giant roadblock in his mind. How was he supposed to do this when he didn’t have any experience himself? As an elder, he felt embarrassed that he couldn’t offer good advice. 

“And honesty. Always be honest with your girlfriend.”

“Um, it’s a boyfriend.” Guanlin’s eyes were downcast as if expecting to be scolded. The only outward sign of any surprise from Minhyun was a pause.

“Okay, then always be honest with your boyfriend. The truth will always come out eventually.” 

“What about how to kiss?” Seonho interrupted. He picked up Minhyun’s hand which rested on his shoulder and used it to stroke his head again. Minhyun indulged him and continued petting. 

“Well, I think that should come naturally.” Minhyun lied. He actually had no idea but it all looked pretty natural on TV and the movies. Maybe he should kiss someone to test it out. 

“What’s a hickey?” His hand froze in Seonho’s hair. He didn’t like where these questions were going. 

“How do you get one?” Seonho continued, peering up at him with inquisitive eyes. For goodness sake, he wasn’t even the one in a relationship, Minhyun thought, slightly irritated. 

“What about se-”“I think that’s enough questions for today.” Seonho pouted and Guanlin expressed disappointment. 

“I’m going to get an expert so you guys can have the best advice. Let’s meet again tomorrow.” The boys reluctantly agreed as Minhyun let out an inner sigh of relief. He was gonna have to get someone who was more experienced and better at this.

 

\----

 

A day after Guanlin and Jihoon’s confessions, rumors spread around the school about a handsome second year and a tall Taiwanese first year dating. Jihoon didn’t know who had found out and leaked it but he didn’t appreciate it. It reminded him of last year when similar rumors had gone around but he didn’t want to think about it. He had confidence it wasn’t Guanlin though. 

All day he’d heard whispers around him. They’d look at him with wide eyes and turn to tap their friends excitedly.

“Isn’t he the one?”

“Yeah, yeah, totally.”

“It’s a shame. They’re both so handsome.”

“I wanted to date him.”

Jihoon sighed propping his chin on his hand and stared out the window. What was taking Guanlin so long to decide? They both clearly liked each other so he wasn’t sure why he was hesitating. Once again, this situation felt painstakingly similar to the events from last year. If he didn’t want to date, Jihoon wasn’t sure what he’d do. His heart squeezed in pain at the idea. From the second he first laid eyes on the tall boy, he’d fallen head over heels for him. That day in the library felt like a magical dream. 

“Hey.”

A voice interrupted his reverie. Turning away from the window, he saw Park Woojin standing by his desk. They hadn’t talked much outside of their class representative duties ever since he met Guanlin and he felt a little guilty that he’d dropped his new friend for some else. 

“Hey. How have you been? We haven’t been able to hang out recently.” He smiled apologetically. Woojin didn’t smile back and shuffled slightly. 

“I guess you’ve been too busy with your new boyfriend.” His words had a biting sting to them. 

“Ah, you’ve heard the rumors too.” He sighed, inwardly praying that Woojin wasn’t too upset. They’d had a lot of fun playing together the previous two months and to him, Woojin was already a good friend. That’s all. 

“Tall Taiwanese boy eh?” He held up his smartphone to show some kind of blogpost with the rumor about their confessions. Who were these people and how did they know? 

Seeing Jihoon squint in confusion, Woojin explained, “It’s the school news club app. They post about all the gossip.” So they were the ones responsible for all his troubles. His expression darkened.  If he ever found out who they were… 

Woojin was still waiting for him to answer as he snapped back to the present. 

“Oh, yeah. I like him.” He softly said with a small smile. Woojin studied him for a second. 

“Really? Even though he’s younger?” 

“Age doesn’t mean anything to me. I like him because he’s beautiful and kind. The way he smiles at me makes my heart flutter.” Immediately Jihoon felt himself go red after admitting this. Woojin equally looked uncomfortable by his sudden confession. 

“Well, I’m glad that you’re happy.” He finally replied, giving a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I just thought that, maybe this year, well…” His voice trailed off and his expression seemed to be waiting for something. Jihoon didn’t know what it was and just looked up at him confused. 

“Never mind.” He sighed seeing that Jihoon wasn’t getting it. 

“Just try to call me once in a while. We’re still the pink sausage unit remember?” Woojin finally displayed a real smile complete with his signature snaggletooth. Jihoon laughed as he remembered the day they bought matching pink track suits together. 

“Of course. We’ll always have our pink sausage friendship.”

They hi fived before Woojin turned away to go back to his desk. An emotion that was too fleeting for Jihoon to identify, flashed in his eyes. Or it was just his imagination. 

 

\----

 

“Okay class, we’ll begin with lesson one, a diagram of the male reproductive organs.” Dongho used a ruler to tap the picture he had taped up on the dorm wall. 

Seonho, Guanlin, and Minhyun all sat on Minki’s bed across from Dongho who had an assortment of pamphlets and materials laid out around him. Minki had gone out at the beginning saying that he already knew everything. Though the session was supposed to be for Seonho and Guanlin, Minhyun mumbled some kind of excuse about being a teaching assistant and sat with them. 

Guanlin was only half paying attention. He was more interested in the emotional part rather than physical part of a relationship. Plus he'd already gotten a sex education class before in Taiwan. 

“And remember, always be safe and use a condom.” He heard Dongho say then held one up for demonstration. Seonho on the other hand, seemed fascinated by all the information. He’d already collected a pile of the pamphlets to take back to their room. They ranged from topics like puberty to instructions on safe male intercourse. Guanlin had no idea where they got these brochures from. Maybe they had a school nurse. 

“Any questions?” Dongho started to stack his papers neatly like a real teacher. Seonho raised his hand. 

“How do you know if you’re a top or bottom when you’re with a guy?” 

“Seonho!” Minhyun gave him a light smack.

“No, no, all questions are good questions,” Teacher Dongho admonished. “Well Seonho, some people just know what they prefer based off imagination or experience but for most people, it depends on who they’re with. And some people don’t mind either and they’re called versatile.” 

Seonho looked like he was deep in thought for a moment. 

“Minhyun, are you a bottom?” 

His jaw dropped as his face exploded in embarrassment and shock. Guanlin let out a small smirk. Sometimes it was just so amusing to see Seonho tease Minhyun. 

“I feel like you’d be a bottom. But I don’t know if I’d be a top. So I don’t know how we can work it out. But I think-”

“Okay! It’s time to go to bed. No more questions.” Minhyun shot daggers at Dongho in case he would say otherwise. He simply shrugged as if to say, “They’re your problem now.”

“But what about-” Seonho started to protest. Guanlin wondered if he could leave now. He wanted to talk to Jihoon. 

“No, you shouldn’t even be thinking about sex until you’re of legal age.”

“Then, 18?”

“20.” Minhyun returned sternly. Seonho began thinking again, probably calculating Minhyun’s age when he will turn 20. He looked like he wanted to say something again but thought better of it. 

After the embarrassing education session, they all headed back to their separate rooms. Minhyun had also taken some of the brochures as well. Though no one had asked, he’d explained they were for other curious kids in the future. 

Back in his room, Guanlin typed out a message to Jihoon.

 

Guanlin

_ Want to meet after school tomorrow? _

 

After wavering for a few seconds, his thumb hit send. Immediately, Jihoon’s dialogue bubble came up, indicating him writing. He wondered if Jihoon had been waiting for him all this time. 

 

Jihoon:

_ 20:21 Okay ^_^ _

_ 20:21 Let’s meet at this cafe _

He sent him the location and time. 

 

Guanlin:

_ 20:27 Ok _

_ 20:30 I have something to tell you _

_ 20:31 Please wait for me _

 

Jihoon sent back a sticker of a happy winking bunny. 

Satisfied, he closed his phone case. He was finally ready to give Jihoon his answer. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even though I'm a panwink enthusiast, I also like the 2park thing. I'll write their playdate probably after I finish the main story.   
> I'm so excited for Guanlin to tell Jihoon his decision. But will he be able to?   
> Also, only two more days until he turns 16! Precious giant baby is growing up so fast ;-;


	5. Umbrella

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday to my son, Lai Guanlin/Kuanlin! I hope he was able to spend his day well and eat good food :)
> 
> There's a lot of stuff happening in this chapter and I wasn't sure where to split it up so I'm going to double post today to minimize confusion. I hope y'all suffer the same angst I did writing this :')

“Hi, what can I get you?” A friendly young woman stood behind the counter. The cafe Jihoon had chosen had a trendy vibe with most of its clientele being young adults. The decor was chic but also quaint enough to be cozy.

“Um, can I have a white gourd tea with boba, please?” Guanlin spoke hesitantly, glancing at Jihoon beside him who gave him a nod of encouragement.

“How much sweetness? 50%? 100%?”

His mind blanked as he tried to remember the word for 25. Feeling the pressure of the line behind him, he just replied, “50.”

“That’ll be $4.25. Your number is 23.” The employee ripped the receipt and handed him the slip. Guanlin reached for his wallet when Jihoon suddenly came up from behind him. “We’re together. I’ll have a honey milk tea with boba and a 100% sweetness, please.”

“That’ll be $8.50. Your number is 24.”

“Hyung, I can pay for us.” Guanlin protested when Jihoon opened his wallet. It had pink bunny stickers on it. “I was the one who asked to meet.”

“As your hyung I want to treat you. You can just do something for me later.” He flashed him a beautiful smile as he handed over the money. Guanlin made a mental reminder to do something really nice like get him a special birthday present. Actually, he didn’t know when Jihoon’s birthday was. He’d have to ask later.

They took their slips and headed to an empty table by the window. Guanlin was more than a little nervous as they faced each other. It was probably more nerve wracking than the confession earlier this week.

“How have your classes been?” He started off on a safe topic, not quite ready to head into the serious stuff. Jihoon seemed to understand as he flowed into the conversation smoothly.

“They’ve been alright. Don Mills is a pretty good teacher despite looking scary. His voice is quiet and he grades fairly.” Jihoon let out a little laugh.

“Woojin found a notebook last month with a lot of flowery poetry. We thought it was a female student’s but it turns out it was Don Mills’. We were so surprised when the description of his missing agenda matched the description of the notebook. Who knew he was so soft?”

“Woojin?”

“Ah, you don’t know him. Park Woojin, he’s in my class.” Guanlin nodded and the conversation faltered. He noted how Jihoon casually called Woojin without his surname. Somehow, it was easy to forget that Jihoon had friends outside of him. Unlike him who only had Seonho, Jihoon seemed quite popular. Whenever he saw him in the hallways or after school, there was always a group surrounding him, usually girls.

“Number 23! Number 24!”

“Hyung, give me your slip.” Without waiting for him to respond, Guanlin grabbed it from across the table. As he went to retrieve the drinks, he tried to convince himself to just tell Jihoon that he wanted to date. Really, he didn’t know why it was hard to say.

As he set the drinks down on the table, he noticed raindrops beginning to stick on the window. The day had been sunny earlier but now silver clouds lined the skies.

“Ah, the rainy season is starting. Do you have a rainy season in Taiwan?” Jihoon took a sip of his tea. The color was a creamy light caramel. Guanlin had a random thought that it would be a good hair color on him.

“Yes but ours starts a little later.” He sipped his own tea. It was sweeter than he would’ve preferred. Next time he’d have to get Jihoon to teach him how to say 25.

“Do you miss Taiwan? You’ve never said why you transferred. Ah, but it’s okay if you don’t want to. I don’t want to pry too much.” He held his hand up and shook it in a visual demonstration.

“It’s alright. I feel like I can tell you anything.” Softly, they exchanged smiles before looking away.

“Well, you know how I’m on the exchange program right?”

Jihoon nodded. “I’ve heard of some other kids from Japan and China that Mnet accepted. But I think you’re the only one from Taiwan?”

“Mmhmm, that’s right. Actually the reason why I applied is a little embarrassing but I’m really interested in Kpop and Korean culture.” His voice lowered as if he was telling a confidential secret. Jihoon’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Really? You like Kpop, like jirit, jirit?” He made the point dance hand motions of “Signal”. Guanlin laughed at how cute it was.

“I do like Twice but my dream is to be a rapper. I wanna be like Zico or Tablo.” He internally cringed remembering his introduction on his first day. He’d been so nervous, he had no idea why he said that.

“Wow, those are some hard rappers, Guanlin. But I’m sure that you’ll become just as good as them someday. You already have a lot of other impressive skills.” His words were earnest and truly honest, not full of flattery. Guanlin felt his cheeks pinken from the compliments.

“Aish, that’s not true, hyung. My skills are really subpar right now. I know that I have to work really hard to get anywhere close to them.”

As the conversation flowed, they chatted about their favorite music and TV shows. Jihoon was impressed by Guanlin’s thorough knowledge of Korean entertainment. Guanlin was just impressed by Jihoon’s beauty. They talked about their family, how Guanlin had left behind his parents, an older sister, and a cat. But he admitted he was more of a dog person.

“Someday, I wanna own a shiba inu. I think they’re very adorable.”

“But I hear they’re hard to train and need a lot of space.”

“Well, I can’t have one now since I’m in the dorms but when I hopefully move to Korea permanently...”

“I’ll help you.” Jihoon instantly offered. “That is, if you want me to.”

“Of course, I’d want you to help. We can co-raise him as our son.”

There was a break in their dialogue, as they awkwardly drank their tea. It was the perfect opportunity to tell him.

“Um,” Guanlin said slowly, as his heart began to race. “About the thing I wanted to tell you.” It was hard to breathe as he forced himself to make eye contact with Jihoon. Despite his obvious eagerness, he coolly responded, “You can take your time to decide. There’s no need to rush.”

“But I’ve already decided. Ever since our k-kiss,” he stammered over the word like it was dirty. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you even once.”

“Guanlin.” Jihoon’s eyes were tender as he reached across the table to put his hand over his.

“I want to tell you that-”

_Buzz. Buzz._

Someone’s phone went off and made the table vibrate. Jihoon glanced down at his phone but after flipping the case open and seeing who it was, he put it back down. Guanlin thought he saw a small frown.

_Buzz. Buzz._

_Buzz. Buzz._

“Feel free to answer. It could be something important,” Guanlin offered. Jihoon shook his head and gave a weak smile.

“This is way more important to me. I-”

At that moment, his phone began to ring from a call. Guanlin motioned for him to go ahead and take it. Jihoon looked at the ID again and hesitated before making a final decision. In that split second, Guanlin had a sudden intuition that it would be something crucial to Jihoon’s life. He didn’t know that it would be to his as well. Jihoon drew his hand back as he got up.

“I’m really sorry about this. I’ll be right back.” Guanlin nodded as Jihoon gave one last sorry expression and stepped outside. Guanlin was about to bring him his jacket as it was raining but Jihoon stayed under the front door awning.  

From his place by the window, he could see him quite clearly. And he could see that his face wasn’t happy. Guanlin wasn’t sure if he should just look away and mind his own business. At the same time though, he was still itching to confirm their relationship. A rapid movement caught his eye again. Jihoon’s arms swung about with tension. He paced within the small area under the awning. Something was awry.

After a few more minutes, he came back in but his movements were stiff. Instead of sitting back down, he grabbed his things in swift motions.

“Hyung, are you leaving?”

His head snapped up to face him as if he’d forgotten Guanlin was still there.

“Ah, yeah.” His face flushed guiltily. “Something urgent just came up. I need to be somewhere.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Guanlin also stood up.

“No,no! It’s fine. You can stay and sip your tea.” An edge in his voice made Guanlin pause. “It’s just something personal I have to take care of.”

There was a bitter taste in his mouth as he watched Jihoon put on his jacket and it wasn’t from the tea. He’d been so close to telling him and now the moment was lost. Even if Jihoon had caught onto what he was about to say, he was clearly in no mood to discuss it now.

“Wait, hyung.” Remembering something, he turned to fish in his backpack. Jihoon had already stepped away from the table but now turned back expectantly. Finding the object, he held out an umbrella.

“It’s raining.” Hesitating, Jihoon stared at the folded yellow case. “But won’t you need it?” Guanlin shook his head with a smile. “I’m fine. I have another one.”

“Thanks.”

Guanlin watched him go out the door and open his duck themed umbrella. Darting out like a mouse, his short legs carried him until he was out of view. Sighing, Guanlin returned to stare at the seat where Jihoon had been. His half finished drink still sat on the table. Curiously, he reached out to try the drink. It was sickly sweet and sugary. In disgust, he returned to his own drink.

The rain continued to pour. Despite the many people buzzing around the place, Guanlin felt empty and alone. With dismal eyes, he looked to his backpack as if he expected another umbrella to magically appear. Another sigh exhaled as he sent a text to Seonho.

 

Guanlin:

_16:34 Can you come meet me? And bring an extra umbrella please._

 

\----

 

The rain poured down, lowering Jihoon’s visibility. Though Guanlin’s yellow umbrella helped against the worst of the weather, he was still getting wet. More than that, he was angry. He kicked a pebble and watched it skip into a drain with a plop. Really angry.

He knew Guanlin was about to tell him yes. He knew it by the look in his eye and the way his voice conveyed his affection. But of course, he had to get interrupted by someone he thought he’d never speak to again. As if by magic, his phone started to ring again from that very person.

“I’m on my fucking way. Just chill out.” He spat into the phone before waiting for the other person to say anything.

“Hurry up,” Baejin whined. “I think Daehwi’s trying to find me.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “As if anyone could find you in that place.”

He knew exactly where Baejin was and he knew that besides the two of them, no one else had a clue about it.

“I’m getting on the subway. I’ll be there soon.” He clicked the phone off before Baejin had a chance to respond. Talking to him any longer would just make him more furious. But there was also something that stirred in him. Something that made him nostalgic.

As he entered the station, he took down the umbrella and was reminded of Guanlin. Tomorrow he’d ask him out again. He didn’t want to wait and risk him possibly changing his mind.

 

\----

 

School was nearly empty with most of the clubs having ended by now. Jihoon hurried down the hall to the auditorium. Cautiously, he opened the door glancing around. No one was in sight. Sighing in relief, he headed to the stage. Getting on his hands and knees, he felt along the floor until he found what he was looking for. He tried pulling up with no success. Exhaling with exasperation, he knocked on the floor.

“It’s me.”

After a second, there was a click. The floor moved revealing a trap door and a compartment beneath. Jihoon descended the ladder and saw Baejin sitting in the corner.

“You’re wet.” Baejin assessed his drenched jacket and dripping umbrella. Jihoon put it down and took off the jacket.

“It’s raining.” He chose to sit on the ladder as it gave him some space. It also gave him a view of the small two meter by two meter space. The room was originally meant to be a waiting space for performers on stage. They’d wait down below and emerge through the trap door onto the stage. To the right, the room connected to the rest of the space under the stage. A thick black curtain had been hung in the doorway giving them the perfect privacy.

Though it had been months since he’d last been here, he didn’t think it had changed at all. The worn out pillows in the corner were still there giving him an odd feeling as if he’d gone back in time. But he was different now. He wasn’t like before.

“So, why’d you call me all of a sudden? I told you I didn’t want to talk to you again.” Jihoon folded his arms, unhappily.

“It’s just like what I said. I got into a fight with Daehwi and now I’m sure he’s looking everywhere for me.”

“I’m sure,” he replied dryly. “So, what am I supposed to do about it? He’s your boyfriend.” There was more venom in that last word than he meant.

“I dunno. I just, wanted someone to talk to I guess?” Baejin scowled, frustrated. His head rested in his hands as he stared down at the floor.

“I wanted someone to understand me like you do.”

 _Did_ , Jihoon mentally corrected him. Yet he couldn’t help but feel his heart strings get tugged seeing Baejin so gloomy on the concrete floor. Despite the issues between them, he still did care for him. Against his better judgement, he got up from the ladder to sit down next to him.

“When I heard you were dating someone, I was really surprised. Did he ask you out first?” Baejin simply nodded.

“But you’re fighting now? Do you like him?”

He let out an irate sigh. “He’s gets so jealous all the time. He acts like he owns me. It’s really suffocating.” After a beat he then murmured, “I think I still like him.”

Jihoon’s chest tightened against his will. He didn’t want to feel like this again.

“Why don’t you just talk to him them? Work things out?” He continued on his pseudo therapy, hoping to squelch his own emotions.

“Daehwi doesn’t get it. He complains that I don’t love him if I don’t shower him with love all the time. But I just really hate-” “I know.” Jihoon cut him off.

“You hate public relationships.” His tone was bitter. Baejin finally looked up and into Jihoon’s eyes. Startled, Jihoon turned his gaze elsewhere.

“Jihoonie.”

The tone is painfully familiar.

“Stop it. Don’t call me that.”

“I’m sorry about-”

“I don’t want to talk about it!”

His voice echoed in the concrete room. Silence reigned as he felt Baejin’s gaze burning into him. It took all his willpower to keep his face composed. He fixated his eyes on his muddy shoes.

“Let’s do it again.”

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Shocked, he turned back to Baejin who had a determined expression on his face.

“What?”

“It’s just not going to work with Daehwi.” Baejin insisted. “He wants a relationship. I want-”

“I want a relationship too!” Jihoon cried feeling his frustration overflow. He didn’t want to be here dealing with Baejin’s problems. He wanted to be back with Guanlin, safe and dry, laughing about puppies and celebrities.

“Then have one with me.”

Swiftly, Baejin reached forward to cup the back of Jihoon’s neck and pull him forward. Their lips met and Jihoon couldn’t breathe. Immediately, he tried to push Baejin back with his hands. Baejin simply pushed him back until his head gently hit the wall. Pillows cushioned his back. At this angle, Baejin had the literal upper hand as he moved to straddle Jihoon. Moving deeper into the kiss, Baejin bit his lip softly as his tongue caressed his.

Jihoon knew this kiss and he knew that he could either let Baejin do what he wanted with him, or he could end it now.


	6. Loving You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This entire chapter takes place the previous year when Jihoon and Baejin are both first years. It provides a flashback into their previous relationship.

**March 2016**

“Bae Jinyoung?” The teacher looked around the classroom. No one raised their hand. “Bae Jinyoung?”

Jihoon supposed that the empty seat to the right of him was Bae Jinyoung’s seat. He wondered what kind of person would be late to their first day of school.

The back classroom door slowly slid open. Turning around, there wasn’t anyone in sight. But then only a second later did he realize that a boy was hastily crawling on the floor towards the empty desk.

“Bae Jinyoung!”

The boy snapped to his feet with a startled expression. While he was certainly handsome, the most shocking part of his features to Jihoon was his tiny face.

“Here!”

The teacher gave a scowl of disapproval. “Tardiness is not tolerated especially on the first day of class. I’ll have all of you know I can see you when you try to sneak in.”

“Yes, I apologize.” His head hung ashamedly as he took his seat but afterward Jihoon caught a glimpse of his face and saw a slight smirk. Their eyes met and Jihoon couldn’t help but grin back.

 

**May 2016**

Waves gently lapped up against the shore as seagulls cried in the distance. Jihoon leaned back to admire their sand castle. His arms and legs were tanned with sand sticking to his skin. Tufts of his hair stuck out, only half dry. They’d decided to go the beach for the weekend despite the weather not being quite warm enough. Baejin had a sudden urge to go so Jihoon agreed to indulge him.

“It’s done!” His head leaned back to gaze at the pinkening sky. Swirls of orange and purple mixed in to create an ideal sunset.

“Wait, I still need to add the details.” Baejin took a stick to draw in windows and doors. Laughing, Jihoon only watched Baejin make the castle come to life like a fairy godmother.

“But the clock is chiming, Cinderella. It’s time to go home.”

Without the warmth of the sun’s rays, the evening became quite chilly with the ocean’s strong gusts of wind. Jihoon pulled his jacket on, getting sand all over the inside. He’d wash it off later.

“Let’s come again in the summer.” Baejin stood up and tried to brush the sand off but the grains stubbornly clung on him. His white shirt had turned yellow.

“There will be too many people here,” Jihoon lamented with a sorry expression.

“I don’t mind. As long as I’m with you.” A hand softly petted Jihoon’s head with affection.

“Come on, let’s go wash up.” With a tender smile, Jihoon stood up and slung his arm around Baejin’s waist. They left their castle to wash away in the night.

 

**June 2016**

Jihoon hadn’t meant to do it. He hadn’t met Baejin that day with the intent to kiss him but now that their faces were this close, he couldn’t help it. One day he had woken up and realized that he was in love with his best friend. And he was determined to change best friend to boyfriend.

“I love you, Jinyoung.” As he pulled back from their brief kiss, he declared his love to him.

Baejin didn’t seem surprised as he returned passionately, “I love you too, Jihoonie.”

Everything felt right in the world.

 

**August 2016**

“Is anyone there?” They peered around the dark auditorium before they tiptoed in, giggling. Within seconds they broke into a run as they dashed to their secret hideout. Baejin had found it a few weeks ago and they decided to use it as their “heaven.” Jihoon had found some old prop pillows backstage and they hung up a curtain for the ultimate privacy. No one was around for summer break so the two of them had the run of the school.

“Ready to go to heaven?” Baejin grinned as he opened the trapdoor. “Stop being so cheesy.” Jihoon grinned back as they climbed down. As soon as his feet hit the ground, Baejin pulled him into a passionate embrace. Their kiss was hard and demanding as Baejin bit his lip. Their tongues glided against each other as Jihoon felt Baejin slide his hand up his shirt, caressing his bare skin. They broke away, breathing heavily.

“Jihoonie,” Baejin breathed as Jihoon moved his mouth down leaving little kisses on his jaw. His lips moved lower to the side of his neck where he licked, tasting salt. Suckling lightly, small hickies appeared, coloring his neck.

“Good thing your neck is so strangely thick. I can leave as many hickies as I want.” Jihoon was back at eye level with Baejin giving him small nose kisses.

“That’s not the only thing that’s thick.” He smirked at Jihoon whose face turned bright red. Despite them sucking face literally every chance they had, they’d never moved to take off clothes and Jihoon preferred to keep it that way. At least, until he could convince Baejin to officially date him. Maybe once they were older and had been dating for a while, then maybe.

 

**October 2016**

“Jinyoung, wait!” Jihoon called after Baejin who had just left the classroom. His pace increased to catch up with him.

“Did you get a chance to read my texts from last night?” He paused to catch his breath.

“About that…” Baejin shifted on his feet with an uncomfortable expression. “Right now’s not really a good time. Can we wait a little longer?”

A flash of irritation passed over Jihoon. “You said that last time too. We’ve been together for four months already.”

Baejin shot him a warning as his eyes darted around to see if anyone had overheard him. Huffing in annoyance, Jihoon tugged at his sleeve in a gesture to follow him. Baejin wouldn’t let him hold his hand at all in public despite the fact that it wasn’t even something strange for male friends to do.

Quietly, they exited the building and stepped out onto the field. The theater club was using the auditorium at the moment so they couldn’t use their hideout. A musical was coming up so they’d been unable to rendezvous there recently. Without their usual makeout sessions, Jihoon was getting nervous about the stability of their relationship. Unlike before when he and Baejin could chatter eagerly about anything, Baejin now seemed sullen and distant. Anytime Jihoon brought up any mention of their relationship, his actions would become agitated. He just hoped Baejin would think the field was private enough for them to openly talk.

Zipping his jacket up, he shivered against the brisk October breeze. Alone together on the grass, they finally faced each other.

“When can we officially date?”

No answer. Jihoon tried again. “I don’t want to hide our relationship anymore. I wanna kiss you anywhere without worrying who’s watching. I wanna hold your hand in the hallways for everyone to see.”

Baejin kicked the ground with his hands in his pocket. “I know. I know that it’s hard on you but I just can’t be in a relationship right now.”

“But why not? I thought you loved me.” His voice trembled as he tried to find any trace of affection in Baejin’s eyes. His lips pressed together thinly.

“I do love you. I love you a lot, Jihoonie.” His arms wrapped around Jihoon’s waist. Pressed up against his chest, Jihoon snuggled his face against his cotton hoodie.

“Please just wait until I’m ready.”

 

**November 2016**

“Did you hear? Two first years in class 4 are supposedly going out.”

“Really? Who are they?”

“Dunno. But you can probably guess if you know who’s in that class.”

The chair screeched backwards as Jihoon stood up. Instantly, the girls who had been gossiping earlier hushed and attempted inconspicuous glances at him. Dumping his unfinished lunch, he stormed out of the room. His stomach hurt.

 

\----

 

“I’m sorry but I still can’t date you right now.”

“What are you saying? People already found out. They know.”

“Yeah, I know. But I just…” Baejin sighed angrily, running his hand through his hair.

“You just what? You’ve been telling me to wait for months and I have but I’m getting tired. I just can’t do this anymore.”

The air was still.

“I’m sorry, I can’t.” Those four words made Jihoon feel like his world was being crushed before his very eyes. “I still love you but I want things to stay the way they are.”

“I… I don’t want to do that anymore. I love you too. But right now, loving you hurts me too much. So, let’s end it.” Choking back a sob, he turned away, his fists balled up. Nails bit into palms but he hardly noticed.

“I’m sorry.” Baejin repeated. But Jihoon had already started to walk away. He was determined to never come back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: Do y'all mind leaving comments if you like my writing? I can't tell if I'm writing trash or not but like, try to break it to me gently if it is trash ;-;


	7. Guilty Secrets

_ Jihoon knew this kiss and he knew that he could either let Baejin do what he wanted with him, or he could end it now...  _

With a harder shove, Jihoon tore himself away, panting. His lips were wet and swollen. 

Jihoon’s mind had exploded with the memories that he’d tried so hard to lock away. Kisses just like these streamed through his mind like a movie. The memories of sneaking away to this hideout for countless times filled his head. 

Furious he turned back to a bewildered Baejin.

_ Slap. _

“You fucking slut.” Jihoon hissed furiously. Scooting away, he tried to regain some distance. His heart felt like it would combust from an overload of emotions. This wasn’t what he wanted. 

As Baejin recovered from his shock he glared at Jihoon with dark eyes.

“What the fuck, Jihoon? You don’t want to do this again?”

“No, I don’t. I’m done being your toy!” Jihoon’s eyes watered as he stood up. “I like someone else now. Someone who actually loves me back.”

“What, that Taiwanese boy?” Baejin scoffed, also getting off the floor. He crossed his arms defensively. “Don’t think I don’t know you have your eye on him. He’s a real catch. Handsome bastard.” Jihoon recoiled as if he’d been the one insulted.

“Don’t talk about him like that.”

“So when someone prettier comes along, you’ll dump him like you dumped me?” Baejin ignored him, continuing to taunt him. “You’re fucking shallow.” 

Seeing red, Jihoon exploded. His fists slammed against the concrete. “You were the one who didn’t want to date me! You were the one who wanted to keep everything a big secret. Well sorry if I don’t want to sneak around to kiss the person I love.” His hands shook as he choked back tears. 

“You’re just trying to use Daehwi in the same way and when that didn’t work you came back to me. Well you know what? We’re over. We’ve been over for months. I’ve moved on.” He turned to leave, partly because he was done and partly because he didn’t want Baejin to see him cry. 

“And so should you.” 

Taking a step, he froze again hearing Baejin whisper, “Liar.” 

Not wanting to speak with him anymore, he left without another word. Outside in the cold downpour, he felt a small twinge of relief. Though he’d forgotten Guanlin’s umbrella, he didn’t mind the rain getting on his face. It was warm and salty. 

 

\----

 

The next day, Jihoon came to school bright and early. Though the events from last night left a heavy weight on his heart, he was eager to put them behind. Today would be a fresh start with just him and Guanlin. He was determined to never let anything come between them. 

Sliding open the classroom door, the tall slim figure of Guanlin already alone in the room, surprised him. Though the door had made a sound, Guanlin hadn’t turned from the window. Jihoon took a second to admire his beautiful proportions. His black hair shone in the light and though he wore a uniform, his aura was somehow princely. Jihoon didn’t know how such a person like this could exist in real life. 

As he turned away from the window, the corners of his lips curved up upon seeing Jihoon. Seeing this beautiful smile, Jihoon felt almost cleansed from the previous day’s events. All that mattered was here and now. 

“Hey.” 

He almost laughed at how such a simple word had such a strong effect on him. With a smile of his own, he returned, “Hey.” Then, before he could stop himself, “I missed you.”

Guanlin’s eyebrows raised in delighted surprise. Blood rushed to Jihoon’s cheeks but he knew this wasn’t the time to be shy. 

“I missed you too,” he echoed back. They tentatively stepped toward each other until they met in the middle. Guanlin gave a small giggle. At this distance, Jihoon had to angle his head upwards. Normally, he’d be a little self conscious of his height, which was admittedly on the shorter side but he was still a growing boy. Instead, this height was perfect for him to bury his face in Guanlin’s shoulder. 

“Um-” “I-”

They awkwardly laughed as they spoke over each other. 

“You go ahead.”

“Ah, no you go, hyung.”

Jihoon put his hands up to protest but Guanlin reached up to grasp them with his own. They were big, warm, and soft. His heart fluttered at the gesture. 

“Erm, well, okay. I just wanted to apologize about yesterday. I know you didn’t get to tell me what you wanted to, so I thought that um…” 

The words wouldn’t come out as he apprehensively shifted his weight from foot to foot. 

“It’s fine, hyung. I understand about yesterday. I won’t ask about it either.” He gave his hands a small squeeze. “No matter what you go through, Hoonie, I’ll always stand by you.” 

Guilt clenched in his stomach but he did his best to ignore it. Instead, he concentrated on this new nickname. He liked it a lot. 

“Really? Does that mean…?” His voice trailed off again. It was as if the minute he said anything out loud, the spell would be broken and he’d wake up from this fever dream. His palms were getting sweaty but he didn’t dare break away from Guanlin. 

“Mm,” he affirmed then took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I took so long. It’s the first time I’ve ever liked anyone this much and I’m a little nervous about my first relationship. I have a lot to learn but I’ll do my best to make you happy. I want to be a boyfriend that you can be proud of and show off to everyone. Jihoon hyung, will you go out with me?” 

His speech was polite as always; Jihoon loved that part about him. Vigorously, he nodded up and down. 

“Of course I will, Linlin. I like you so much. Just being with you makes me happier than anyone else in the world.” At last, Guanlin released his hands only to wrap them around Jihoon in a warm embrace. Breathing in his familiar scent, Jihoon nuzzled his face into the crook of Guanlin’s neck. His hands rested on his lower back and slowly stroked up and down. 

“Is my name too hard to pronounce?”

“Hmm?” The lush temptation of his skin distracted him. They were all alone and it wouldn’t take much to unbutton his collar and tug it down...

“Seonho calls me Linlin too.” 

Abruptly, Jihoon pulled back and looked up to check his expression. He was actually concerned. Jihoon gave him an incredulous look. 

“No, no, don’t worry about it. It’s just a cute nickname.” Inwardly, he had a mild annoyance that the nickname he thought he’d cleverly come up with had already been taken. But he really liked it so he supposed he’d just have to share. 

“Never mind that. Is that seriously all you can respond with after my heartfelt acceptance?” Huffing in mock indignation, he crossed his arms staring up at the taller boy. Guanlin grinned his gummy smile and clapped like a seal. 

Leaning down, he pressed a soft kiss on Jihoon’s forehead. All his play-acting melted away with this one move.  

“Better?” His small smirk contrasted with his pure kiss and all Jihoon wanted to do right that second was whisk him away somewhere no one could ever find them. Just then, commotion from outside the room startled them. 

“Let us in. Class is about to start.”

“No! You absolutely can’t go in right now.” Seonho’s voice rang loudly. 

“Seriously, move out the way.”

After a moment of noisy scuffles, the classroom door slid open. By this time, Jihoon and Guanlin had already separated, not yet ready to publicly display their affection for his classmates to see. Seonho stumbled in after the bothered students and looked at them with apologetic and worried eyes. 

“Guanlin! Jihoon hyung!” Speed walking, he came over to join them. “Is everything okay? I mean, you’re dating now right?” 

At this question, Jihoon flashed his gaze to Guanlin. There was a sudden fear that he might deny it, even lie about it. 

“Yeah, we’re going out now.” Guanlin’s hand patted his cheek in a loving manner. His happy response allowed him to let loose a breath he hadn’t even known he was holding. Really, he was truly lucky to be in love with such a wonderful person. 

 

\----

 

_ Okay, just say ‘I’m sorry, Jinyoung. I’m sorry for being overbearing and overstepping our boundaries.’ _ Daehwi rehearsed to himself a few more times. It was after school again and Daehwi hadn’t spoken to Jinyoung in a few days. They’d had a major fight and Daehwi had immediately gone to apologize but he was nowhere to be found. After that, he’d tried to meet him but Baejin hadn’t answered any of his messages. Somehow, he hadn’t worked up the courage to meet him in school but today was the day he would change that. He loved Baejin too much to give up. 

From the second floor window he saw Baejin down in the courtyard. Quickly, he raced down the steps to prevent himself from chickening out. 

Outside, he nervously marched up with his speech planned but his steps slowed as he got closer. It seemed like he was talking on the phone with someone. Daehwi paused, uncertain of what to do. Baejin was a few meters away yet he hadn’t seen him yet. 

“Yes, I’m aware, mother.” If Daehwi hadn’t known it was Baejin by sight, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to recognize him by his voice. It was cold and formal. Was that really how he spoke to his own mother? 

“I understand that the company is having issues, but please remember that I’m only sixteen years old. How can you expect me to-” 

He paused while the other person spoke again. His hand was clenched in a fist. 

“Yes, I’m aware of my responsibilities, mother.” Another pause.

“I apologize, but I feel that these plans are too sudden.” 

Daehwi suddenly felt like he wasn’t supposed to be hearing this conversation. Cautiously, he backed away scaring some nearby pigeons. Beating their wings, they flew off. 

Baejin whirled around, staring directly at Daehwi who looked as if he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. 

“I’m going to have to call you back.” He clicked the phone off and casually approached him. All previous courage that Daehwi had mustered, fled. Right now, Baejin looked a little scary, a little angry, and a little hot.

“Did you need me?” The roughness in his voice reminded Daehwi that they were still on bad terms which he intended to rectify this very second. 

“Yeah, can we talk?” Tentatively, he tried a smile but there was no reaction. 

“So talk,” he responded impatiently, glancing down at his phone. Daehwi regretted starting this conversation as the timing had become terrible but it was too late now. 

“Well, I just wanted to apologize about yesterday. And all the times before. Even though I love you this much, I guess that I overstepped your comfort zone.” He swallowed, his mouth feeling sticky all of a sudden. 

Seeing Daehwi’s remorseful expression, Baejin’s eyes softened. He slid his phone in his pocket. 

“I’m sorry too. I said some things that probably hurt your feelings. I’m glad that we’re able to talk about it now.” 

“Me too. I know that hyung is reserved so I’ll try better to be more self conscious and respectful of hyung’s feelings.” Baejin slowly shook his head as Daehwi tried to make amends. 

“Daehwi-yah,” Hesitantly, he looked down at the ground. “I don’t think we can date anymore.” 

“What, but why?” Daehwi cried. Just when he thought they were patching up their relationship, Baejin had to say something like this.

“Is it because I act too jealous? I’m really sorry, I promise I’ll be better. I swear, really, so please, please don’t break up with me.” His last words broke into a whisper and and it wasn’t possible for Baejin to look at him with more pitiful eyes. 

“No, it’s not completely that. I just, I don’t think I can give you what you want.” His own voice had lowered into a murmur as if he was afraid of people overhearing him. 

“Are you saying I’m asking too much?” Taking a step closer, he wished Baejin would look at him. He didn’t understand what was going on. Their relationship had started off so well. At least that’s what he thought. As he racked through his brain, he recalled Baejin unwilling to hold hands and unwilling to call him cutesy nicknames. Despite that, he always kissed Daehwi when no one was looking and he stroked his hair sweetly and he gave Daehwi more strength than he would ever know. He didn’t ever want to lose Baejin to anyone but now it felt like he was slipping out of his hands like grains of sand. 

“No, Daehwi, that’s not it.” With a frustrated sigh, he turned away slightly. “I know that boyfriends should hold hands and hug and kiss whenever they want. I know boyfriends shouldn’t sneak around and hide things. I know what boyfriends should do, but that’s just something I can’t give you or anyone else.” 

“But I just don’t understand why.” Daehwi moved so that he could face Baejin again. He wasn’t going to let him run away again. “Are you just too shy? I don’t understand because you don’t seem like that kind of person.”

That was the wrong thing to say. Baejin’s eyes flashed up in irritation. “What kind of person do I seem like then, huh? Do I seem like someone who likes to skulk around and be shady? Do you think I like the fact that I have to keep so many secrets?” 

“What?” Daehwi was taken aback. Everything about this conversation was going wrong. It was like a never ending trainwreck. What kind of secrets was he talking about? Their relationship?

“I just can’t talk about this right now.” With that, Baejin stormed away and Daehwi was left more confused than ever. All he ever wanted was for Baejin to love him back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, new chapter. I had a sudden inspiration for a new direction in the story so it took me a while to rework my outline. Now there will be even more drama and heartbreak. Yayyyy (✿◠‿◠)  
> I feel kinda bad to Baejin stans that I'm making him the bad guy but he has his reasons behind his actions. Doesn't mean we have to approve of them though.   
> Thanks again for your comments, very appreciated. I will continue to work hard! (=^·^=)


	8. Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came out a bit long but I didn't want to push any of these parts back. Please enjoy!

Guanlin was sure he was living the happiest days of his life. Not even the day when he received his acceptance to Mnet High could compare to the days he spent with Jihoon as his boyfriend. The first day, Jihoon hadn’t wanted to leave his side. He waited until Kahi had entered the room and glared at him before giving Guanlin a last teary eyed farewell. When the lunch bell rang, he was the first person to open the classroom door much to Kahi’s displeasure. She’d walked over and shut it again in his face. But even Kahi couldn’t dampen their excitement.

The two of them had sat out in the courtyard with the bread that Jihoon had bought for the two of them. Seonho had enviously told them, “Have a good time but not too good, you hear?” He looked like a proud mother hen as he pushed the two of them out of the doorway and waved.

Now that their relationship was well known, lots of people gawked when they saw the two of them together. Girls especially would stare then giggle and run away when they’d get caught. Whenever that happened, Jihoon hid his face behind Guanlin in embarrassment. Guanlin thought it was really cute how he relied on him. Jihoon had said he’d never liked being the center of attention despite attracting a massive fan club. That still puzzled him to no end. He was sure there were more handsome kids in the school.

Guanlin watched the girls run off with a curious face. “Is it really that unusual to date here?” He’d asked. With red ears Jihoon had replied, “No, they’re only interested because it’s us.” Guanlin wasn’t sure what that meant but he simply shrugged it off. Eventually the novelty would wear off and they’d be undisturbed.

After school ended for the day, Guanlin told Seonho he’d see him later that night and left to meet Jihoon. He spotted Jihoon by the school gate, anxiously checking every student that walked past. Then he pulled out his phone, to check the time, Guanlin assumed. A vibration in his pocket surprised him.

 

Jihoon:

_15:16 Are you still coming?_

 

It had only been a minute past their agreed meeting time. Instead of being annoyed, Guanlin tried to think about ways to tease him for his hovering. He quickly messaged back.

 

Guanlin:

_15:17 Only if you shout that you love me :P_

 

Jihoon whipped his head around frantically while Guanlin immediately ducked behind a pillar. Peeking his head out, he saw his thumbs typing at lightning speed.

 

Jihoon:

_15:18 Linlin!_

_15:18 How can I do that?_

_15:18 There’s so many students here TT_

 

Smirking from his hiding place, he responded.

 

Guanlin:

_15:19 I can always go home with Seonho and see you tomorrow…_

 

Jihoon

_15:19 Fine, okay TT_

 

Guanlin’s mouth fell open when he saw him concede. Peeking out again, he saw Jihoon take a deep breath. His face already looked like a tomato.

“I love Lai Guanlin!”

Everyone in the surrounding area stopped and stared at him. Guanlin silently started giggling and clapped behind the pillar.

With another breath, Jihoon continued, “I support his dreams of being a swaggy rapper!”

Oh fuck. Guanlin immediately dashed out upon hearing the word swaggy. The moment Jihoon saw him run out, his eyes screamed that he wanted to kill him for making him do this. Guanlin wanted to kill him too for calling him a swaggy rapper.

Grabbing his arm, Guanlin yanked him away from the gate and down the street away from school. He didn’t dare look back at the perplexed bystanders. They slowed once they were about a block away, panting.

“Guanlin!” Jihoon scolded once he got his breath back. His hands were on his hips like an angry mother. “How could you make me do such a thing? Everyone was watching.” He covered his face with his hands, cringing.

Guanlin just laughed back with a wide smile. “Yeah, but you brought up swaggy rapper so we’re even now.”

Narrowing his eyes, Jihoon just huffed at him. “I don’t think that makes us even.” He crossed his arms and pouted, not looking at him. Guanlin couldn’t help but grin. It was the cutest thing whenever Jihoon pretended to be angry with him.

Ruffling his hair, he said, “Okay, okay, I’ll buy you some food to make up for it.” Jihoon covered his head with his hands, protecting his hair and his pride.

“Since you offered…”Offering his hand, he looked at Guanlin expectantly. Taking it, they strode down the streets, hand in hand.

 

\----

 

Later that evening, the two boys arrived back at the dorms with their arms around each other, laughing. The sun had already set and the front door lights were on. Guanlin punched in the code, opened the door, and stepped in. Glancing back, Jihoon was hesitantly waiting outside.

“Come on in. It’s fine.” Guanlin gestured with his arm. Jihoon then reluctantly entered looking around nervously.

“Is it really okay? Don’t you have rules or a dorm manager?” The reception area though clean, was also empty. The lights were only partially lit which made strange shadow patches in the room.

“Minhyun hyung said that Mnet made Jonghyun the dorm manager here since he’s president. Plus they don’t have to pay him. But Jonghyun is always busy with his work so there’s not really any rules except for when the hyungs scolds you.”

Guanlin led him down the hallway passing by the washroom and laundry room. Every door had name tags of the residents. Im Youngmin, Kim Donghyun, Choi Minki, Kang Dongho… Jihoon recognized his classmate Donghyun. He was the one who always hung out with upperclassmen and played the guitar with them.

Finally, they stopped in front of Guanlin and Seonho’s door. Their name tags were in the shape of baby chicks. Knocking, Guanlin paused then unlocked the door. Seonho was sitting on his bed with his computer. He was wearing glasses and a headband.

“Ah, Jihoon hyung!” Seonho sat up to greet them. “Did you guys have a fun date?” Guanlin dropped his backpack next to us desk and shrugged off his hoodie. Jihoon stood unmoving by the door. He wasn’t sure what to do. He’d never been over to Baejin’s house even though they had been together for so long. Even as friends, he’d never been invited over.

As Guanlin’s boyfriend, being in his dorm caused his palms to get a little sweaty even with Seonho here too. His eyes wandered around Guanlin’s side of the room. Unlike Seonho, he had no posters on his wall. Instead, there was a single picture frame of what Jihoon assumed to be his family, on his book shelf. Korean language books stacked next to it. On his desk was a lamp and school supplies. A notebook laid open on the desk. Seeing Jihoon look at it, Guanlin immediately moved to cover it. Jihoon wasn’t sure but he thought he’d seen the words Lai Guanlin and Park Jihoon surrounded by hearts.

“Yeah, we just walked around and ate some street food.” Guanlin flipped the notebook over. “Feel free to put your stuff down.” Nodding, Jihoon did so and took a seat at his desk. He couldn’t feel more awkward.  Just then Minhyun barged in banging the door open. Somehow he had a key.

“Seonho, did you take my blue tee shirt?”

Seonho froze and stared at him guiltily. “No…”

Crossing his arms, Minhyun replied, “Then what are you wearing right now?”

He slowly looked down to the shirt he was wearing. It was blue. “Ooooh, is this _your_ shirt?” He feigned surprise. “Must’ve gotten mixed up in the wash.” He scratched his head innocently. Minhyun was not amused as he frowned.

“Can I have it back please?”

With a shocked expression, Seonho covered his chest. “I can’t just take my shirt off right now like this. There’s other people here.” Then he put a finger next to his lips and gave a coy smile. “But if you wanna go somewhere alone…”

Jihoon was sure Minhyun was gonna kill him just by looking at his expression. He strode angrily into the room but then halted once he noticed Jihoon was also in the room. At once, his face changed to a strained smile.

“Ah, Park Jihoon, nice to meet you.” They bowed to each other politely. “When did you get here?”

“Just now.” Jihoon shrugged. “Ah, really? Well you should keep the door open when you have boyfriends or girlfriends over.” He shot Guanlin a warning look to which he simply sheepishly smiled back.

“But isn’t it getting a little late?” Minhyun continued. “Don’t you have a curfew?”

An idea struck in Jihoon’s mind as he gazed out the window into the night sky. “It is late so maybe I should just sleep over.” His eyes met Guanlin’s and they grinned in glee.

“Yeah, Hoonie can just stay with me,” Guanlin chimed in. Minhyun was already shaking his head. “Boys, the lines are still running. I can even walk you to the station.”

“But Minhyun…” They whined together. “I don’t mind.” Seonho put his two cents in but Minhyun didn’t budge.

“It’s inappropriate for Jihoon to sleep over,” he said sternly. Their faces fell in disappointment. ‘Next time,’ Guanlin mouthed to Jihoon who nodded back.

“What’s going on here?” Minki’s head popped in carrying a basket of laundry.

“Oh, Minki, are you busy right now?” He shrugged in response. “Can you drive Jihoon home? He can’t stay the night.” Minhyun jerked his head in Jihoon’s direction. With a sigh, Minki muttered, “I’m just a chauffeur, aren’t I?”

“Oh no, it’s fine,” Jihoon began to protest. “No, it’s fine. Let me just go get my keys.”

Reluctantly, Jihoon began saying his goodbyes. He and Guanlin agreed to meet at school early in the mornings to spend more time together. Guanlin said he wasn’t really a morning person but he’d try his best for Jihoon.

 

\----

 

The car ride was a little awkward with Minki. He’d told him his address and it would take about twenty minutes or so. In the meantime Jihoon just stared out the window, watching the neon lights and buildings flash by.

“How has your semester been going?” Minki broke the silence. It was such a parent question.

“Just fine.” More silence. Jihoon didn’t know what else to say. He should probably ask back. Before he got the chance, Minki spoke again.

“So, have you been hanging out with Bae Jinyoung lately?”

That question caught Jihoon totally offguard. He looked up at him but Minki was concentrating on the road. To be honest, he was rather surprised Minki even knew they’d been friends last year.

“Um, not really. We kinda, uh, fell apart, I guess.” Rubbing his neck awkwardly, he tried not to think about the last time he saw Baejin.

“Oh, really huh.” Jihoon didn’t know what to make of that comment.

“So, now you’re with Lai Guanlin?”

Minki’s questions were starting to make him a little uneasy. Shifting in his seat, he answered, “Yeah, we decided to date. We really like each other.”

“Well, that’s good. I might give you a word of advice though.” He cocked his head and looked directly at him for a second.

“It’s never good to have secrets. The truth comes out eventually.” Sudden fear pricked Jihoon’s heart and he forced himself to laugh it off. There was no way Minki could know, right? He said to himself.

The rest of the ride was in silence.  

 

\----

 

Back in the dorms, Guanlin and Seonho finished up their homework and got ready for bed.

“So, why’d you steal Minhyun’s shirt?” Guanlin asked from his bed after turning off the lights. Seonho was currently wearing it to sleep. Guanlin was pretty sure Minhyun hadn’t forgotten about it and was just waiting for his chance to take it back.

“Well, I mean, it really did get mixed up with my laundry. But it’s really soft and it smells just like him so...” His voice trailed off and Guanlin thought he might’ve been blushing but it was too dark to tell. Rolling over in bed, he thought about Jihoon’s scent. It was something he wasn’t sure how to describe. A little spicy but also refreshing?

“You gonna give it back?” Immediately, Seonho snorted. “No way. Finders keepers.” Guanlin scoffed because he knew it wasn’t going to end well. Actually, he wasn’t sure how it was going to end between the two of them. Though Seonho seemed like a cheerful outgoing guy all the time, Guanlin understood he had his vulnerable and soft sides to him. He also knew that despite his playful demeanor towards Minhyun hyung, he likely did have a serious crush on him. Guanlin just didn’t want to see him get hurt in the end. It was lucky for him that he was able to go out with his crush.

 

\----

Five minutes before the lunch bell rang, Daehwi quietly got up and grabbed two bento boxes out of his desk. Silently shutting the door, he padded down the empty hall in the direction of Baejin’s classroom.

This would be the third time this week that he’d waited for Baejin during lunch. He’d gotten permission from Yumi to leave class early so he could catch Baejin. He’d finally learned how to make a bento so he’d made two every day. Once Baejin emerged from the room, he shoved the extra bento in his hands and ran away. He didn’t want to pester him too much. He was sure that Baejin would talk to him when he was ready. What made him really happy was seeing the empty box returned to his desk at the end of the day.

Just then Baejin exited the classroom. Their eyes met and it seemed as though he’d been searching for Daehwi. He handed him the box but as soon as he turned to leave, a hand caught him.

“Wait, Daehwi, can we talk?” Daehwi tried not to show his delight as he nodded. The two of them went out to the courtyard and sat down on a bench. Neither of them moved to open their lunches. Just when Daehwi was about to say something, Baejin spoke up first.

“Thanks for making me lunch these past few days.” A pause. “They’re really good.”

Joy filled his heart but he was careful not to let it go to his head. He’d learned from past experience that nothing went the way he wanted it to with Baejin.

“I’m glad you liked them. I always wanted to make you lunch in return for that first day we met.” That day felt like years ago to Daehwi. So much had happened within two months.

“That felt like so long ago.” Baejin laughed, echoing his thoughts. Running his hand through his hair, he then rested his elbows on his knees.

“I’m really glad I met you then.”

“Yeah?” Daehwi squeaked in partial surprise. It seemed like Baejin was in a good mood today.

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about us and I came to a conclusion.” Daehwi’s stomach dropped as he held his breath. He didn’t want this to be the end.

“We can date as long as we keep it a secret and you don’t ask me any questions about why or any questions about my family.”

Stunned, Daehwi had no response. He wasn’t sure what to make of this proposition. Desperately, he wanted to ask the reason but Baejin had specifically said not to. Furthermore, he didn’t seem to want to talk about his family either but Daehwi wasn’t sure why he would think Daehwi would be interested. Maybe he thought he’d overheard his conversation with his mom the other day. Honestly, this just made Daehwi all the more curious.

Seeing Daehwi hesitate, Baejin took his hand and looked him in the eye. “It’s not permanent, I just have some things that I need to figure out right now. You trust me, don’t you?”

“Of course!” Daehwi rushed to reassure him. “I trust you because I love you.” At these words, Baejin suddenly squeezed his hands tightly.

“Ow, that hurts, hyung.” After hearing his complaint, Baejin released his hands. “Alright, I guess I can do the secret relationship but you have to tell me why someday.”

Now Baejin was the one who hesitated. “Promise?” Daehwi held up his pinky finger. After a moment, Baejin took it.

“Promise.”

Behind his back where Daehwi couldn’t see, Baejin crossed his fingers.

 

\----

 

Baejin watched Daehwi leave the bench. He turned and waved excitedly before going back inside. Baejin waved back with a smile that disappeared when Daehwi did. Angrily, he groaned to himself, hitting his head. Why did he always dig himself into deeper holes?

He didn’t mean to deceive Daehwi but it was just so hard to talk about everything going on. He liked Daehwi a lot but he couldn’t trust him with his secrets. It was something he couldn’t even do with Jihoon whom he’d loved for months and even now, a part of him still missed him.

Remember their rainy night last week, made him clench his fist in rage. His words had hurt more than Baejin would ever admit. From someone who’d been his first love too. He couldn’t help but want to hurt him back though he regretted his harsh words now.

His phone buzzed and he checked the screen. A text from his mother and an email confirmation for a flight to Jeju…


	9. 8.5 Extra: The News Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> XOXO, you know you love me  
> News Club

No one was sure exactly how the long The News Club had been around or who had even started it. People supposed that the website had popped up one day and word of mouth spread it. Now, almost everyone in the school knew about it although no one spoke of it too openly. The News Club was the source of all rumors and entertainment in the school. Though some called it horrible, they couldn’t help but check it daily like a ritual.

Often, they made speculations as to who was behind the blog. Some people thought it was teachers while others were convinced it was a secret shadow organization within the school. Some people even offered to join the club in the comments but there was never a reply. So, they assumed there must be high requisites in order to join.

Whenever Gunhee heard complaints about this, he did everything he could to stop his huge mouth from grinning. If only they knew, he thought to himself. If only they knew how lame it actually was.

As he descended the stairs, the light faded making the surroundings obscured. Sliding open the door key, he punched in the code. A beep signaled his acceptance. As the lock clicked open, he strode into the bright room.

“I’m back!” He announced loudly. The room was well lit with white walls on all sides except for one with many photos tacked up. Unlike the grungy exterior, the room was surprisingly clean and modern. A round coffee table and sofa were placed in the center of the room. A blonde kid was lounging there with a book covering his head.

“Dongmyeong, stop slacking off!” Gunhee smacked the book off his face as he headed to his desk.

“Ow, hyung!” Dongmyeong complained, rubbing his face. “I already wrote my article for today. Gunmin’s checking it over right now.”

“Roger that.” Gunmin responded from the other side of the room at his own desk. A stack of papers with marks all over them laid on the desk next to him. “Needed some grammatical corrections and more sensationalism.”

“What did you write about?” Gunhee asked without really caring. Ejecting the SD card from his DSLR camera, he stuck it in the computer and waited for it to start up. He couldn’t wait to get started on this next scoop of gossip.

“Eunki found some stuff about two third years-”

“My scoop will be way bigger,” Gunhee interrupted shamelessly. “Eunki is too sensitive. He never gets the whole story.”

Dongmyeong rolled his eyes as Gunhee spieled on his usual rant about how he was the best field reporter. While it was true his photos were the best, Dongmyeong sometimes wondered how he could do his job so ruthlessly. Personally, it was too much for him to actively pry into others’ lives so he opted to become only a writer much to Minki’s chagrin.

Minki supervised the club and handled the final drafts to be posted. When he was younger, he mentioned that he used to work in the field like Gunhee but now he retired. That left only Gunhee and Eunki as reporters. As third years, Gunmin, Minki, and Eunki had debated about adding new members but ultimately decided it was fine for the year as no other first year was promising enough to recruit.

Dongmyeong couldn’t help but feel a little puffed up that they’d chosen him. Of course, that had been due to connections as he, Gunhee, Hwanwoong, and Gunmin had all gone to the same middle school. There they’d been known as a terror clique for their amount of gossip and chitchat.

“So what’s your big scoop?” Dongmyeong’s tone was sarcastic though he knew it was likely something good.

“Did you finally get something on Mnet?” The hopefulness in Gunmin’s voice made Dongmyeong want to sigh.

“No, no, this is better.” Shaking his finger at Gunmin’s back, Gunhee made some clicks. The printer in the corner whirled to life.

Dongmyeong grabbed the book again to cover the fluorescent lights. He wanted to go back to sleep. It had been so peaceful with only him and Gunmin in the room.

“Where’s everyone else?” Gunhee wondered.

“Hwanwoong’s studying for a test. Eunki’s still out. Probably went home. Minki’s doing whatever.” Dongmyeong yawned. Minki only came to the office to approve postings and other official stuff. Lately, it had been taking longer and longer so Dongmyeong had offered to handle some of the stuff. He hadn’t been given the blog but he had been given the password to their twitter so he could write back to readers.  

At last the printer quieted and Gunhee tore the papers out. “Tada!” He held up the pictures. No one looked.

“You guys!” Whining, he stamped his foot and went back to his desk. “Fine, I’ll tell you since you’re so curious.” The sound of keys furiously clacking, echoed his vexation.

“I was in the auditorium earlier returning some props when I heard a commotion in the understage. One voice I recognized as my classmate, Bae Jinyoung, but I don’t know the other boy. I followed the voices to a wall which I soon realized was a curtain. They were arguing about something so it seemed important. I waited for a while and sure enough, I got a picture of them kissing!”

He held up the picture proudly and tacked it on the wall next to the others.

Dongmyeong stilled when he heard Bae Jinyoung. He was pretty sure that was the boy that his classmate Daehwi couldn’t stop talking about. And he was pretty sure they were supposed to be going out.

Gunhee grabbed a thick book from a shelf on another desk. After leafing through it, he found what he’d been looking for.

“Park Jihoon, yes this looks like you.” He raised the yearbook up to compare with the compromising photo. Gunmin suddenly stopped typing.

“Weren’t they one of the couples from last year? After our post, I think they stopped being together.” He sat back in his chair, pondering the events.

“Ah! That’s right!” Gunhee’s clap startled Dongmyeong. Why was everything about that hyung so loud?

He grabbed a box of labeled SD cards until he found the one he wanted. Inserting it into the computer, within a few clicks he brought up a blurry photo of the couple from last year.

“It was really such a shame that Eunki couldn’t get a better photo,” Gunhee lamented. “We couldn’t even use it for the article.”

“At least Boa gave us a larger budget this year. I think she’s getting really impatient.” Gunmin commented, going back to his own work.

“Yeah, but the Mnet board is so paranoid.” Dongmyeong sighed. “They don’t leave even a single crumb of evidence behind.”

“Don’t worry, boys. One day, we’ll get them and free Boa from her contract.” Gunhee announced reassuringly. “Then we’ll get a massive reward.”

Dongmyeong scoffed. “We get paid so much already. What more could you want?”

“Hmph,” Gunhee flipped his hair and turned away, not answering.

There was finally silence as Gunhee and Gunmin both worked on their own assignments. Dongmyeong picked up his phone to check their twitter. Listlessly, he scrolled through their replies and mentions. It was all the same stuff either hate or reaction comments. Hitting the feather button, he typed out a new tweet.

 

_Shocking news is soon to come about a certain couple that are both already in relationships! Please anticipate where this love square will go next..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this as a fun exposing side story. We finally get to see who the Mnet gossip girls are!  
> Dongmyeong didn't come out as fluffy as I wanted him to :( I did him wrong but I'll redeem myself later since Cloudhop and I are planning another fic centered around Gunhee and Amazing Kiss members. We won't start releasing that for a while as we need to focus on our main fics. 
> 
> Also, Dongmyeong and his band MAS are going on KBS's Unit show so please support him there. Gunmin is going on YG's Mixnine show along with HF's Woodam and Jinyoung so please also support them. Unless you don't like them but I mean, it's their second survival show. TT
> 
> Lastly, I have midterms coming up so I won't be able to write as much as usual. My carpal tunnel is also lowkey coming back because I've been typing so much. Haha, I got it in the first place years ago when I first started writing fics. Anyways, I wanted to ask if you guys would like me to post one more chapter now or wait for a double post in about a week or so? If there's not much of an opinion then I'll just wait.


	10. Scandal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha so I know I said you wouldn't see me for a week but I forgot that I hate studying and will do literally anything else to procrastinate. Plus I feel like I can't leave the fic alone for too long like a baby. No one loves this fic more than I do. So here's another chapter while I cram for my exams tomorrow.

The next day Jihoon came to school early to hang out with Guanlin. They’d agreed to meet by Guanlin’s classroom. As he waited, he reflected on what Minki had said last night. He was right that it wasn’t good to keep secrets. And wouldn’t their relationship be better if he was just honest with Linlin? But Jihoon waffled over the decision. As much as he wanted there to be no lies between them, he was afraid that Guanlin would be upset with him. They hadn’t been exclusive the night that Baejin had kissed him. So, he supposed it wasn’t technically cheating, but the guilt weighed on him like it was. 

As the minutes ticked by with no boyfriend in sight, he began to get worried and anxious. Maybe Guanlin had forgotten or maybe he didn’t set an alarm. 

Finally, he saw Guanlin along with Seonho making their way down the hall. He gave a small wave. Upon seeing Jihoon, the pair’s expressions turned grim. Their pacing slowed as they neared Jihoon. Awkwardly, he put his hand down, unsure of what was going on. Seonho glared at him and spun his head away. Guanlin wouldn’t meet his eyes. 

“Hey guys, what’s going on?” Jihoon began tentatively, gauging their reactions. “You look a little down.” Guanlin only looked down as if the floor was the most interesting thing in the world.

“Seems like it was raining snakes last week.” Seonho finally responded with an accusatory tone. Guanlin didn’t say anything as Jihoon’s heart dropped. They couldn’t have been talking about…? 

“W-what are you guys talking about?” He replied weakly as his heart accelerated. His clothes suddenly felt too warm. 

“Just about the fact that two second years were caught making out under the auditorium.” Seonho whipped out his phone and displayed a censored photo of him and Baejin kissing. Though their faces and name tags had been blurred out, everything else, including Guanlin’s umbrella, was clearly visible. 

Jihoon’s heart dropped. His head spun. Dozens of questions rushed through him. Who had taken that? How had they found them? Did everyone know?

“Is it true, Jihoon?” Guanlin spoke at last, raising his head. The whites of his eyes were pink and it looked like he hadn’t even brushed his hair. 

“It’s not-” “I know that’s Guanlin’s umbrella.” Seonho waved the phone in his face so fast that he couldn’t even see it. “And he never got it back either.” Guilt crushed Jihoon. He’d forgotten about the umbrella and he’d been trying so hard to forget about the kiss. 

“It’s true,” he took a deep breath. “But it’s not what you think. Just let me explain.”

“It’s fine.” 

Did Guanlin understand? A single strand of hope appeared only be to destroyed.

“I don’t need to hear any more from someone whose actions don’t match up with their words.” Guanlin stiffly walked past him into the classroom. Pain squeezed at him like he swallowed shards of glass. 

“Wait,” he called after him but he didn’t look back. Seonho followed after sticking his tongue out at him and glaring again. He slid the door shut with a loud click. 

Jihoon collapsed against the wall in confusion. The cold plaster provided relief to his sweaty back. Tears pricked his eyes. Why was this happening to him? He thought only good things would happen to them but his past actions had come to haunt him. 

His face hid behind his knees as he crouched next to the door. As time passed, he heard students enter the classroom. His legs felt numb, stuck to the ground. All energy seemed drained out of him. There just didn’t seem to be a point to anything anymore. 

At last there was a click clack of heels approaching him. 

“Park Jihoon? Care to tell me why you’re sitting outside my classroom?” Kahi’s brisk voice bit at him but he didn’t care. 

When he didn’t respond she made a snide remark about kids who don’t listen and left. He tugged his face further inwards. Now two sets of heels returned.

Someone squatted beside him. “Park Jihoon? Are you not feeling well?” Shin Yumi’s melodic voice spoke to him. Unable to look up, he merely nodded into his knees.

“How about you go to the nurse’s office? Do you know where that is?” He nodded again. She waited a moment but he made no movements. 

“Do you need someone to go with you?” 

The thought of stranger seeing him vulnerable like this nauseated him. Shaking his head, he slowly got to his feet. His vision spun dizzily and he felt like he might throw up. Like a snail, he sluggishly dragged himself down the hall and further away from Guanlin.  

 

\----

 

**[Breaking News]**

Two second years caught kissing!

The pair were discovered yesterday under the auditorium stage with an amorous setup…

 

Daehwi sat up in his bed, the grogginess replaced by hysteria and a sinking feeling in his stomach. Though he couldn’t see their faces, he had an awful suspicion that one of them was Baejin. Who else had proportions like that?

Hurrying to get ready, he wanted to get to school as soon as possible. He had to ask Baejin what was going on. Fury started to creep in. Was that why he wanted a secret relationship, so he could sneak around with multiple people? He wondered to himself as he angrily stuck a sock on. 

_ Buzz. Buzz. _

 

Samuel:

_ 7:23 Want to walk to school together? _

 

Groaning, Daehwi typed a gentle no before thinking about and realizing Samuel was probably already waiting for him anyways. It wasn’t like he hated Samuel but he really didn’t have the time to focus on him right now. 

His prediction was right when he opened the door to see Samuel leaning on his fence staring down at his phone. Instantly, he jumped to put away his phone when he saw Daehwi come out. His eyebrows were drawn up more anxiously than usual. 

“Hey, how are you doing?” His awkward smile just screamed that he saw the news too. Samuel had been the first person whom he’d confided his crush and his number one supporter too. 

“Fine, I guess.” Daehwi shrugged as they took the familiar route to the subway. 

“Oh, really?” His voice was pitched higher. Stopping, he turned to Samuel with a sigh.

“Did you see the rumors too?” At this, Samuel erupted with questions. 

“Was that really Jinyoung hyung? Didn’t you say you were going out? Who is that other guy? Did he lie to you?”

“Samuel…” Daehwi groaned in irritation. Though he hadn’t meant to, Samuel’s last question wounded him. Daehwi hadn’t thought Baejin to be a liar but with a suspicious photo like this, he wasn’t sure of anything anymore. 

“If you want to kill him, I’m ready.” Daehwi whipped his head around in shock. 

“WHAT?”

“Yeah, like I know how to hide a body. ‘Cause that’s what best friends do right? They help kill the boy that broke their best friend’s heart. And I’m your best friend.” 

“Um, sure, yeah.” Samuel’s wide eyed expression was scaring Daehwi just a little. It was better just to agree with him. 

“Remember, I’m always here for you, Daehwi. If you need anything and I really do mean anything.” Samuel patted him lightly but Daehwi barely registered it. His thoughts were consumed by a secretive caramel boy. 

 

\----

 

Daehwi stared at the doors to the classroom to class 2-2 with unmoving feet. It had been five whole minutes since he arrived but somehow he hadn’t brought himself to walk through the doorway and face him. Where did he even start? Time was running out as homeroom would be starting soon. Slapping his cheeks, he mustered up the courage and stepped through the doorway. 

“Bae Jinyoung!” Shouting, he frantically searched the room for him but came up empty. Baejin wasn’t here. 

“Excuse me, but please do not shout in my classroom.” A teacher with glasses strode into the room with a reprimanding expression. “I don’t believe you’re one of my students, Lee Daehwi?” He squinted at his name tag. 

“No, I’m not.” Daehwi did a quick bow. “I’m looking for Bae Jinyoung?” 

“Ah, I was just notified that Bae Jinyoung won’t be in school today. He’s taken absence for family business.” The teacher waited with a gesture for him to leave. Disappointed, Daehwi headed back to his own classroom. Now there were even more questions and suspicions.

As the hours passed, he couldn’t concentrate on the lessons. There were too many emotions swirling around in him. At first, he tried to convince himself that it wasn’t Baejin. It was definitely possible, right? Then as he kept thinking about that night, a slow acceptance came over him that it might be him. If that was the case then he was furious that Baejin would lie to him. After that came devastation and then depression. He wondered if the Baejin he’d known was even his true self.

During lunch he pulled out his two bentos that he’d made last night and stared at them sadly. A hand rested on his shoulder, startling him.    
“Sometimes things just don’t work out.” Lee Woojin’s words only made him more depressed. Daehwi gave him a weak smile as he patted him and left. With a heavy sigh, he realized he didn’t really want to eat alone. Checking his phone, he saw ten messages from Samuel asking how he was doing. Between the choice of eating alone or eating with Samuel, he deemed Samuel to be the better option. 

The two of them met outside in the courtyard. It was the exact same place as yesterday where Baejin had made him promise to their secret relationship. He tried not to think about that. 

“You know, Daehwi? I think you should just give up on him.” Samuel opened the extra lunch box that Daehwi gave him. For the second time that day, Daehwi whipped his head to look at him in shock. 

“What, really?”

“Yeah, I mean, Bae Jinyoung doesn’t really seem to be that interested in you. From what you’ve told me, it seems like you’ve always taken the lead.” 

“Well, yeah, but-”

“And he wanted a secret relationship? That’s just a red flag right there. He was clearly using that as his cover to sneak around with other guys.” 

Samuel did have a point but Daehwi didn’t want to admit it. Though his words were harsh, he was starting to see the sense in them like a fog lifting. But he still didn’t want to give up on Baejin either. He was sure that a part of him really did love him even if it was behind all the facades and secrets. 

Daehwi suddenly stood up and put his lunch aside. “I’m going to call him,” he announced. “You actually have his number?” Samuel responded with raised eyebrows. “It’s not like that’s a secret too,” he huffed back. Actually, he had to grab Baejin’s phone when he wasn’t looking to exchange their contact information but that was beside the point. 

Going some ways away from Samuel, he took a deep breath and hit the call button. 

Ring… ring… ring… 

Just when Daehwi thought it would go through to voicemail, someone picked up. 

“Hello?” He recognized his voice. “Jinyoung hyung? Can we talk?” 

A pause and then a sigh. “Sure, but I don’t have much time.”

“Did you kiss Park Jihoon last week?” Silence. “Please don’t lie to me anymore.” 

“Yes, I did.” His tone was flat with no pretense behind it. Daehwi swallowed as his eyes watered. So it was true. 

“Have you kissed other boys? Do you have secret relationships with them too?” He couldn’t stop the harsh accusatory tone in his voice.

“Daehwi, I can’t really talk about this right now.” His heart dropped. That wasn’t the response he wanted to hear.

“Did you ever really love me? Did those days we spent together mean nothing?” Daehwi felt miserable. He felt like a fool for believing in him. 

“Daehwi…”

“Just stop. You asked me to trust you but how can I when it seems like every word you say is a lie. You give excuses for everything.”

“Then what do you want me to say?” Baejin’s voice was quiet. “Would you even believe anything I say right now?” 

A single tear trickled down Daehwi’s cheek and that was the cue for the floodgates to release. His throat choked up and he couldn’t respond. 

“Let’s just end this for good. We can’t make either of us happy.” With that the line ran dead. Baejin had hung up on the phone and his life. 


	11. Assumptions

The sun was hot on Baejin’s skin as he stepped off the plane. He wished he’d thought to put on sunscreen. Really, he made the same mistake every time he came to Jeju. As he strolled through the airport, he wandered into a random shop and made a quick purchase. Now with his new bucket hat and sunglasses, his face would be protected. 

“Hurry up, Jinyoung!” His mother called from up ahead. She was already exiting out to the street. Reluctantly Baejin trudged up to where a car had been waiting for them. They left the airport in a breeze. Staff would retrieve their luggage and have it sent to their hotel. 

“Oh, Jinyoung, that hat is so ugly.” His mother complained in the car glancing at him with distaste. “And what are those cheap sunglasses? Why do you never wear the nice ones I buy for you?” 

Ignoring her, Baejin turned to stare out the window in bore. The familiar trees and landscapes passed by. Most people would love to visit the Jeju islands but for Baejin it was a place he didn’t particularly wish to ever return. 

Finally, the car pulled up to a tall hotel building. In giant gold letters the name read, The Emerald Star Resort & Spa. The entrance was four lanes wide with a roof overhead to protect from the sun. Hotel staff immediately extended their hands to assist them as soon as the car stopped. Baejin shrugged them off. He hated the pampering. 

Going ahead of his mother, he entered through large glass doors into the lobby. Avoiding all the staff, he walked to a special desk in the far corner. With a nod from the front desk, Baejin pulled out a gold card to access the elevator. 

As he pushed the button, he saw his mother approaching him in the distance. She waved that she was coming but Baejin hit the close button. Watching the floor numbers increase, he couldn’t help but smirk to himself. His destination was the thirtieth floor. 

Ten minutes later, he heard his mother come in. “Don’t forget to change for lunch in an hour!” She hollered through his closed door. “I don’t want to make the Kwons wait.”

Baejin stuck in earphones and rolled over onto his stomach on the bed. A freshly laundered suit hung in his closet. He wished he was at school instead of being here. 

Half an hour passed by uneventfully. Unwillingly, he dragged himself off the bed to put on the suit. After washing his face and combing his hair, he was ready to go, not that he wanted to be. 

A melody rang out, startling him. His phone was ringing on the bed. Curiously, he looked at the screen, wondering who it would be. The caller ID name read, “<3 Daehwi <3” with hearts. Baejin definitely didn’t remember adding him as a contact. His thumb hesitated over the button. 

“Jinyoung, are you ready yet?” His mother knocked on the door.

He hit the receive button. “Hello?”

“Jinyoung hyung? Can we talk?” 

Baejin paused, contemplating what he could possibly want to say. With a sigh, he realized there was probably quite a number of things.

“Sure, but I don’t have much time.” He glanced at the clock ticking away the seconds.

“Did you kiss Park Jihoon last week?”

Oh, so that had come out. He should’ve expected that. Baejin didn’t know what to feel. It was as if he was in some kind of dream bubble where nothing was reality and nothing mattered.

“Please don’t lie to me anymore.”

Daehwi’s pleading made Baejin feel lousy. It wasn’t like Baejin wanted to lie all the time. Some things were just better left unspoken in his opinion. 

“Yes, I did.” Since the news was already out, it was better to be upfront about it. 

“Have you kissed other boys? Do you have secret relationships with them too?” 

Of course, Daehwi would think he was a hoe for other men. He didn’t expect anything less from someone who’d been jealous over him patting a friend’s shoulder. 

“Jinyoung!” The door handle jiggled but he’d locked it. 

“Daehwi, I can’t really talk about this right now.” The minute hand passed the twelve and the hour was up. He really did have to leave now.

“Did you ever really love me? Did those days we spent together mean nothing?” 

It sounded like Daehwi was on the verge of a mental breakdown and he was sorry there was nothing he could do to help him. Baejin was just so confused about his own feelings. But more than that, there were other forces beyond him that affected his life and his relationships. 

“Daehwi…”

“Just stop. You asked me to trust you but how can I when it seems like every word you say is a lie. You give excuses for everything.”

“Then what do you want me to say?” There was nothing Baejin could do at that moment. Even if he’d told Daehwi the full truth, he already knew the response would be awful. Both Daehwi and Jihoon would hate him. Hell, even on some level, he hated himself too. 

“Would you even believe anything I say right now?” 

No response on the other end. Why would he even expect Daehwi to believe him anymore. He wouldn’t even trust himself. All he was doing right now was hurting Daehwi. It hurt him too, to even consider breaking up with him. But maybe it was better that way.

“Let’s just end this for good. We can’t make either of us happy.” He ended the call and opened the door. 

“Come on, let’s go!” His mother grabbed his hand and hauled him out of the suite. He didn’t even have any time to cry alone in his room. 

 

\----

 

The line ran dead. Baejin had hung up on the phone and his life. Swiping his eyes, Daehwi returned to Samuel who jumped up with wide eyes.

“It went badly?”

At this, Daehwi broke down into sobs. The tears he thought he’d just dried up only came back tenfold. All of the stress and anxiety from the whole day just crashed upon him. Falling into a crouch, he cried into his knees as Samuel rubbed his back. 

After a few minutes of letting it out, he felt a little better. His heart still hurt but the knots in his stomach were gone. Samuel passed him some tissues. 

“Thanks.” He blew his nose and tried to clean himself up. At least Baejin hadn’t seen him like this although it wasn’t like he hadn’t cried in front of him already. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Park Woojin timidly hovering a meter away. Though he was a year older, the two of them knew each other from yearly summer camp sessions. The two of them along with Im Youngmin and Kim Donghyun, often bunked together. Daehwi motioned for him to come over.

“Woojinie!” Woojin was startled when Daehwi suddenly leapt into his arms for a bear hug. 

“Are you okay? I saw the news about Jihoon and Baejin kissing again.”

Daehwi drew his head back in surprise. “Again?” Realizing his mistake, Woojin’s eyes darted about nervously. 

“I didn’t say that.” 

“No, tell me what you mean.” This was important. 

“Well, I don’t know if I should say this but Jihoon and Jinyoung had a secret relationship last year. Very few people knew about it though. As far as I know they ended it around December of last year. Jihoon had told me he had moved on with Guanlin but I don’t know now.” 

Daehwi’s head reeled from this new information. He just didn’t understand what Baejin was doing. But one thing was for sure, he was angry at him and he wouldn’t let him get away with breaking his heart. 

“Woojin-ah, will you go out with me?”

“Um, what?” He blinked in disbelief. “I kinda already have someone I-”

“No, no,” Daehwi interrupted impatiently. “Just like as a fake boyfriend so Jinyoung will get jealous and want me back.”

“Um, I’m still here, Daehwi.” Samuel was ignored. 

“Are you kidding me?” His expression was of disgust. “Don’t you have any respect for yourself or Jinyoung?”

“Well, he doesn’t have any respect for me,” Daehwi scoffed back. Woojin only shook his head.

“Look, Daehwi, I care about you a lot but I also care about Jihoon and Jinyoung. Be careful and really think through your actions. They could end up hurting more people than you’d know.” After saying these words, he looked a little pleased with himself. 

“I quoted my favorite blog but I think it’s really good advice. Actually, if you don’t mind, I have a meeting with the blogger.” With that, Woojin excused himself. 

Daehwi watched him go with a sour expression. 

“I can do it, Daehwi,” Samuel offered, trying to get his attention again. 

“No, it’s okay,” He sighed. He really did hate it when others had a point. “It won’t have the same effect.” The bell rang and the two of them headed back to their respective classrooms. 

 

\----

 

_ I will be waiting under the far spruce tree by the fields. I look forward to your company… _

\- Flowerseop99

 

Woojin looked down at the message on his phone then around the area. He was sure this was a spruce tree. Cautiously, he approached the tree as if it was the one he was meeting. 

“Might you be Chamsae99?” 

A voice rung out but he had no idea from where. Then someone whirled around from behind the tree. It was a boy with black hair and a rose in his mouth. His eyes were closed as he struck a dramatic pose. An image of Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon popped in his mind. 

“Um, yeah, that’s me. Flowerseop99?”

Instantly, the boy’s eyes popped open. His jaw dropped in disappointment and the rose fell. “You’re not a girl?” He blurted out. 

“You’re not either.” Woojin was a little irritated. He’d been expecting a soulful poetic female student and instead he got this weird boy. What kind of guy named himself flower?

The guy sighed dramatically and collapsed to the grass with a pout. “Ugh, seriously, I thought I was gonna meet a pretty girl.” Me too, Woojin thought to himself.

“Well, we can at least introduce ourselves. I’m Park Woojin. I’m in class 2-3.” Doing a quick bow, he also sat down. 

“Ahn Hyungseob. 2-2.” He replied sullenly. The name sounded familiar to Woojin. He racked his brain for where he’d heard of him before.

“Ah! You’re friends with Bae Jinyoung.” Daehwi had told him whom Baejin had hung out with once. It was back during a time when their relationship was still going well, or at least, as well as it ever had. 

“Yeah, I guess so.” Hyungseob looked surprised that he’d know.

“Er, it’s just that my friend Daehwi was having some relationship problems with Baejin so I gave him some of your advice from your blog.” Though he’d been proud at the time, Woojin now pulled at the grass in embarrassment. It was in front of the original writer after all. 

“Really?” But Hyungseob seemed happy. They shared a small smile between them. 

“Yeah, like I said in my comments, I love your blog posts. I always look forward to your next update.” Hyungseob was really perking up now.

“Yeah? I’m so thrilled that I have a regular reader. I started blogging because I wanted to share my life and thoughts but I was afraid no one would find them interesting enough.”

“No, no,” Woojin reassured him. “I find them very refreshing. Your love letter to music for instance, was really beautiful. I could really relate.”

The two of them spent the time chatting about his blog. Woojin felt so comfortable talking with Hyungseob despite it being their first meeting. When he’d first found out that his favorite blogger went to his school, he was determined to meet him. He’d sent a message that lead to where they were now. 

After it looked like his chances with Jihoon were down to zero once again, Woojin started to read some self empowering blogs which led him to flowerseop99. The very first post he’d read was on Hyungseob’s outlook on life. 

 

_ “At first I hated the footpath on the mountain, but I changed my mind because that footpath is near the mountain so the air is so fresh and it makes me happy. So if we change our mindset, we can start a day happily and enjoy it.” _

 

After reading these lines, Woojin decided to have a fresh mindset. He’d put any romantic thoughts of Jihoon away. He’d do his best to support him in his new relationship with whoever it may be, as a friend. The pink sausage unit would be best friends only. 

As he watched Hyungseob play around with his fake rose, he thought to himself that maybe a new day was beginning. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So who is Bae Jinyoung really?...  
> I wrote in some jinseob even though they won't really be featured in this story. Woojin is a really good kid. The last quote is from Hyungseob's actual blog. He's a real cutie ^.^


	12. Mother's Love

The room was decorated in soft green tones accented with gold and white. Offwhite drapes softly framed windows that overlooked the sea. Baejin sat impatiently in the large cushioned chair. His mother sat next to him with pursed lips. She was upset with him as usual. He couldn’t remember the last time they weren’t fighting. 

With a sigh, he got up out of the chair and reached for the door.

“Where are you going, Jinyoung? They’ll be here soon.” Her frosty voice didn’t stop him. “Bathroom.” 

Scowling, he stalked out of the room and through the restaurant. In the restroom he washed his hands and stared at himself in the mirror. He was dressed well and done up handsomely like an older version of himself. He bet Daehwi would’ve gone crazy over this look. The corner of his mouth quirked up at this thought. Then he became gloomy as he remembered their last conversation. 

The door suddenly banged open and in the mirror, he saw a girl stumble in then freeze with wide eyes.

“Sorry!” She squeaked. “Wrong door.” Rushing out, she disappeared as fast as she had appeared. Shaking his head in bafflement, he returned to their private room and sat down. 

At last, the doors opened and three people walked in. Their descriptions were of an older middle aged couple and their daughter. Baejin and his mother stood to greet them politely. 

His eyes almost fell out in surprise. It was the girl from the restroom! Upon seeing his face, she blushed and avoided his gaze. “It’s been so long, Mr. and Mrs. Kwon.” His mother exchanged pleasantries. Baejin and the girl awkwardly bowed to each other. She had long chestnut hair with bangs. Her eyes were a dark shade of brown and were downcast shyly. 

After they exchanged greetings, they took a seat at the large round table. The girl sat next to Baejin. She seemed uncomfortable and fidgeted nervously. He didn’t blame her. He was sure she didn’t want to be here either. 

“Why don’t you introduce your daughter?” His mother suggested. “Jinyoung has been dying to finally meet his fiancee.” Baejin sure felt like dying alright. He had absolutely zero interest in having a fiancee. 

“Yes, of course.” Mrs. Kwon gave her daughter a look. “This is my daughter, Kwon Hyemi. She was born the same year as Jinyoung.” Hyemi nodded quickly. 

“How wonderful to finally meet you. And I believe you have a son as well?” 

“Ah, yes, that is correct. Her brother is currently studying overseas.” Mrs. Kwon smiled tightly. Mr. Kwon hadn’t said a word yet beyond greetings. Perhaps being taciturn was common in their family.

In the meantime they ordered food. Hyemi’s voice was surprisingly low and she seemed quite embarrassed about it, with pink cheeks. 

“So, why don’t we get down to business?” Mr. Kwon finally spoke, sitting forward. Baejin’s empty stomach lurched. Simultaneously, the two mothers pulled out portfolios and spectacles. 

“I believe it would be mutually beneficial for both of us if we merged our companies. Emerald Star Enterprise and Crystal Hotels both do well individually but these are the numbers of what it could be.”

Mrs. Kwon handed his mother a file which she flipped through. “Yes, I’m aware of the potential benefits a merger could bring. These numbers are quite convincing.” The tone of her voice didn’t match the positive words she was saying. 

“We’ve always consider the Baes to be longtime friends and partners which is why we’ve approved the engagement six years ago.” Baejin glanced at Hyemi but she was twirling her hair absentmindedly. He remembered the day when he’d woken up and his mother had told him she’d picked his partner for life already. It wasn’t a great memory. 

“Of course, we consider your family in the same regard.” Baejin hated how they talked as if they weren’t there. What was the point of being at this meeting if they didn’t have a say in anything?

“I’m sure, you’re aware that Hyemi is our only daughter that we wouldn’t trust to any other family.” Mrs. Kwon made that smile again that didn’t reach her eyes. Baejin wasn’t sure why they were dawdling. He knew his mother wanted the merger as well. Business was such a coy game, he supposed. 

“With that in mind, we’d like to move up the wedding.” 

 

\----

 

Jihoon knocked on the door for the fifth time that day. This time Minki answered. The outdoor lamps illuminated his face.

“Is Guanlin there?” He asked hesitantly. Earlier that day, Minhyun had repeatedly told him that he wasn’t home. In desperation, he kept returning in hopes of explaining himself. All he could think about was he should’ve told him sooner. 

“He doesn’t want to see you.” Minki flat out told him. It stung but he expected as much. Guanlin hadn’t responded to any of his messages and had completely avoided him at school yesterday. 

“Can you tell him I need to talk to him?” He was desperate to clarify his and Baejin’s relationship, or more accurately, the lack of it. 

“He knows.” Minki folded his arms. “He’ll talk to you when he’s ready and believe me, he’s in no rush. So I’d advise you to take tomorrow to sort out your relationships and priorities.” Under his hard stare, Jihoon felt slightly ashamed. If only he’d been able to tell Guanlin about the incident earlier. It was his fault it turned out like this. 

Dejectedly, he gave Guanlin’s dorm a last look. His room was the third one down. The light was on through the window. He wondered how he was doing. His stomach knotted at the thought of him crying. Guanlin always had a cool attitude and a strong mentality. Even though he struggled so much with the language, he’d never let it get to him. Jihoon thought that part of him was admirable. 

With a heavy heart, he forced himself to walk away again. Though he hadn’t succeeded today, he was determined to make his feelings reach Linlin. 

 

\----

 

Guanlin watched Jihoon leave through the slits in the shades. He hadn’t felt like going out that day and that decision was solidified by Jihoon’s multiple visits. He knew Jihoon wanted to talk to him, probably to apologize and explain. But there was really nothing to explain. It was apparent that he had other relationships and he hadn’t thought to let him know. Was he angry about it? Well, a little bit. But more than that, he was just devastated really, that the person that he loved would kiss someone else behind his back. 

“Don’t look at him.” The shades shut close and he turned to see Seonho closing them up. 

“I was looking at the stars,” he mumbled, lying. Flopping back onto his bed, he grabbed his phone to look at the scandalous photo for the fiftieth time. Suddenly, it was smacked out of his hands.

“Stop doing this to yourself.” Seonho stood in front of him with his hands on his hips. He’d stayed home the entire day as well to cheer him up but it hadn’t really worked. All Guanlin could think about was Jihoon and that rainy day. He recalled how Jihoon had left in a hurry. Was Baejin someone that important to him? Truthfully, he had no idea who the second year was before the scandal broke out. Guanlin had never given much thought to Jihoon’s friends since he was always by himself when he saw him. He thought he was special to Jihoon but now he guessed it wasn’t true. With a sigh, he buried his face into his pillow wondering if he could smother himself. 

Thack! Jumping, Seonho had smacked his butt. With an angry yelp, he gave Seonho a ‘what the fuck’ look. Seonho only glared back. Previously, Seonho had been sympathetic to his situation and had offered soothing words. But now he took the tough love approach insisting that he should get over Jihoon as quickly as possible. ‘Liars weren’t to be trusted’ in his words. 

“Do I need to get Minhyun again?” He threatened. Guanlin rolled his eyes as his head went back down. “Stop bothering him all the time.”

Minhyun had come in earlier to give some comfort and advice but Guanlin just wasn’t in the mood. He just wanted to be left alone in his sorrow without anyone hovering over him. 

 

\----

 

Sunday passed in the same way except for the fact that Jihoon didn’t show up again and Guanlin didn’t know what to feel. On one hand, he was relieved he didn’t have to face him. On the other hand, a sense of disappointment ran through him. He wouldn’t believe that he’d give up that easily. 

His stomach growled and he reached over to the plastic bag on his desk. Seonho had bought him convenience store food again as he hadn’t gone out. In fact, he hadn’t even changed out of his pajamas. Giving his shirt a quick sniff, he decided he should probably shower soon. Maybe he was the reason Minhyun hadn’t visited yet. His dedication to cleanliness fascinated him. It was on an obsessive level. Kim Donghyun from down the hall, also tidied some things in the communal lounge and kitchen but Minhyun was the real dorm manager and mom. Jonghyun was kind of like their dad that came home late from work and does nothing but give absentminded pats on their heads. 

It was evening again and he sat at his desk staring down at his pile of homework. Kahi always gave a bunch of handouts and worksheets and they took forever to complete. Though she was a tough and very strict teacher, he actually didn’t mind her that much. Even though she always claimed to hate them, he thought that maybe she secretly did care about them even if it was a little. 

_ Buzz. Buzz.  _

His phone screen lit up. It was his mom. Picking up the call, he switched over to Mandarin. 

“Mom?”

“Why haven’t you called us?” He winced at the blunt question. 

“I just have been really busy. Settling in and all that you know. Sorry it slipped my mind.” It wasn’t a lie. He hadn’t thought about his family much. With the distance between them, they just felt far away emotionally as well. 

“Son, it’s been over a month and you’ve only emailed us once. I’m not paying for your school and living fees for you to behave like this.” Even though she was right, he still sighed. 

“Yes, mom. I’m sorry.”

“So how is it in Korea? Have you made friends yet? Is the language hard?”

“I like it a lot here. My roommate is really friendly and I’m learning Korean as fast as I can. Jihoon helps me a lot…” His voice trailed away as he realized what he just said. His mood soured instantly. 

“Jihoon? Is that a friend?” 

“Kind of.” Hedging, he really didn’t wanna go into it. He wouldn’t hear the end of it if his mom knew he had a boyfriend. 

“Guanlin…” His mom said with a warning tone. “You know how I feel about you dating right now.”

“But mom, I’m fifteen.” He didn’t understand his mom’s dating restrictions. He was a teenager now and of course he’d be romantically interested in others.

“And that’s the age of a minor.” She countered. 

“Just, don’t worry about it, mom. We kind of had a falling out.”

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

“No.”

“Hmmph.” His mother made a sound that made a point of her letting the issue go. They spoke for a few more minutes catching up him up on their family. Unexpectedly, he found himself missing them more than he thought. 

“Don’t forget to visit us during summer vacation. And remember that you can come home any time you decide you don’t want to stay in Korea anymore.” 

“I know, mom. I’ll come home soon.” He reassured her before they said their goodbyes and hung up. Not even a second later, Seonho came through the door.

“Were you waiting on the other side?” He raised his eyebrow in surprise. Seonho nodded in response. “I thought I should give you some privacy. But are you going back to Taiwan soon?” It figured that he had eavesdropped. 

“No, well, maybe.” He sighed again. “My mom wants me to visit and I do miss home a little.” Unable to stop himself, he opened his laptop and searched for flights to Taipei. 

 

\----

 

Despite his declaration of retaliation against Baejin, Daehwi hadn’t left his room all weekend. Instead he’d made a nest out of blankets and hibernated the day away. Under the blankets, he could pretend that everything was okay. He could pretend that he and Baejin were still dating and that there were no secrets between them. He could pretend that Baejin truly did love him with all his heart. 

Feeling the familiar sensation of tears stinging his sore eyes, a hand reached out from the nest. It grabbed a tissue from a nearby box and after a couple quiet whimpers, it tossed the used ball out. His room looked like it had snowed. 

“Daehwi?” His mom knocked on the door. “You need to come out and eat. I let you get away with it yesterday but you need to stop now.” A wail of pity answered her. 

Daehwi heard the door open and footsteps pad over to him. A hand gently rubbed his side through the blanket. 

“Daehwi-yah,” his mom sighed. “I don’t know the details but that boy isn’t worth your tears. If he can’t understand how wonderful my son is, then he doesn’t deserve you.” This only made him want to cry again. 

“But mom,” he sniffed, slowly crawling out of the covers. “I thought he was the one.” His mom stroked his head. 

“Sweetie, I know. People always think their first loves are the one. I thought I’d marry my high school sweetheart. We planned a whole future together.”

“What happened?”

“Well, sweetie, life happened. But going our separate ways turned out to be the best option for both of us. Last I know he’s married to a successful business man. The point is, I’m sure there’s someone else out there that will treat you right. I know it hurts right now but time will pass and you’ll wonder why you ever looked at that boy.” 

Hugging his mom tightly, he tried to let her words sink in. Right now, he just didn’t think it was possible though. The only one he ever wanted was a caramel haired boy named Bae Jinyoung. 

 


	13. Rival

Monday came and everyone warily trickled in, not quite over the events on Friday. Instead, there was new news to gossip over. Another transfer but this time in the girls’ classes. Her name was Kwon Hyemi.

“Daehwi, did you see the new female student?” Samuel kneeled at his desk. “No,” he replied sullenly with his elbow on the desk and his head resting upon it. He felt like he hadn’t slept in a million years despite that being all he did that weekend. And cry.

“She’s not that pretty but I heard she’s really rich. The rumor is she’s an heiress to a big hotel chain.” Samuel went on not noticing Daehwi’s lack of interest. He only had one thing on his mind and it was starting to become an obsession.

Suddenly Daehwi gasped and sat upright. Turning to Samuel with big eyes, he said, “What if I blackmail him?”

“Um, who?”

“Bae Jinyoung. He’s got so many secrets but what if I use them against him?” He clapped in glee. “I can force him to date me again!”

“I thought you were over him.” Samuel replied sourly. “And besides, you have to actually know someone’s secrets to use them against him.”

“That’s fine. I plan to find them out anyways.” His face spread into a slow grin. This was exactly how he’d get his revenge on Baejin and he’d get to date him again. Two birds with one stone.

 

\----

 

The lunch bell rang and Daehwi practically flew out of his seat. Speeding down the hall, he slowed once he reached Baejin’s classroom. After a few seconds, he appeared and went down the hall. Perfect, he thought to himself as he slowly followed after him. But his excitement was dampered when Baejin only went to the store to buy bread. Then he went outside to sit in the field with Heeseok. Hyungseob was curiously not there this time.

Disappointed, he flopped down on the ground with a pout. When was he gonna do something interesting?

“Um, excuse me?” A voice from behind startled him. Turning to look, it was a girl with long brown hair. Her name tag read Kwon Hyemi.

“Oh, sorry, am I in your way?” He moved to stand. Instantly, she shook her head.

“No, that’s not it. Actually, I was wondering about something,” she began hesitantly. “You seem really interested in Bae Jinyoung. Do you know him well?”

Now Daehwi was surprised on two accounts. One, that this new girl would be interested in Baejin as well. Two, that he wasn’t as good as spying as he thought.  

“Well, I mean, kind of?” He scratched his head nervously. “It’s a bit of a long story if you want to hear it.”

Surprising him again, she nodded and sat down with him. So, he told her about how they’d gone out, and then fought, and then ultimately broken up. She followed along to every word with sympathetic comments. He told her about the scandalous kiss between Baejin and Jihoon the previous week which made her face go white.

“Park Jihoon is at this school?!” She squeaked. He nodded giving her a strange look. Maybe she knew him. Or perhaps she was a fan of his.

“Oh, there he is right now.” Pointing to Jihoon coming up from the distance, he turned to show her but she was already gone. Confused, he scanned the area as to where she could’ve left so quickly. Her figure disappeared behind a corner in a flash. He scratched his ear, perplexed as to why she’d run off. He hoped he hadn’t been too intimidating.

His focus suddenly changed to focus on Jihoon who had caught his eye. As he neared, Daehwi became a little tense and wary. Right now, Jihoon was his rival. But he came up to him with a friendly smile.

“Lee Daehwi, right?”

He nodded his head, unsure of what he wanted.

“Can we talk for a bit?”

The two of them moved to sit on some steps. Neither of them looked at each other but Daehwi was aware of him in his periphery vision.

“I guess you must know everything by now?”

“Mmhmm.” Daehwi wasn’t sure what else to say.

“Are you still with Jinyoung?”

“No, he ended it last Friday.” Daehwi pulled his knees in to rest his head on them. Jihoon turned to look at him.

“Do you still like him?”

“Of course, I do! I really really like him. But there’s always been issues between us. He never tells me things and keeps everything a secret.”

There was a moment of silence as Jihoon gazed out into the distance.

“It was the same when Jinyoung and I were together too. Did you know we also had a relationship last year?” Now it was Daehwi’s turn to look at him.

“Yeah, I heard something like that.” He replied lamely, not wanting to get Woojin in trouble.

“Ah, really? Well, actually, I’m not even sure you could call it a relationship.” He ruffled his hair shyly. “He never called me his boyfriend or said we were dating. We never even held hands or kissed each other casually. I always asked but he never told me why. It was too frustrating for me so that’s why I ended it last year.”

Jihoon’s story sounded startlingly similar to his own. There was something there in both of their stories that Daehwi felt was important, something that they were missing. There was a bigger picture but Daehwi just couldn’t see it right now. He didn’t have all the pieces.

“Did you ever find out why Jinyoung was hiding everything?” He pressed him.

“Not really. I had decided to stop talking to him since I felt the relationship had become toxic. We haven’t interacted for months well, except for last week.” Jihoon’s face flushed and he looked down. Daehwi started to feel uneasy again.

“Do you,” he paused. “Do you still like Jinyoung?” Instantly after asking, Daehwi averted his eyes. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to see Jihoon’s expression.

“...No, I don’t.” Though the answer was slow, it held a certain finality to it. “Once, I thought that he was the one for me, but I don’t think that anymore. I-, I just,” he struggled to find the right words.

“I care about Jinyoung so much even after all I’ve been through with him. But there’s no way I could ever love him romantically again. It’s too emotionally draining for me.” After he realized Daehwi wasn’t going to comment, he continued.

“There’s someone else for me now. Someone that makes me feel,” Jihoon sighed dramatically to show the extent of his emotions.

“Lai Guanlin?”

“Yeah, I really adore him.” His small smile disappeared all of a sudden and his expression turned glum. “But now I don’t know what will happen. He wouldn’t talk to me all weekend. He even holed himself up all day on Saturday so I tried to give him space the next day.”

“Wow, really?” Daehwi gulped as he recalled himself doing the same thing. Except that Baejin hadn’t tried to contact him all weekend unlike Jihoon.

“Yeah, and I was gonna wait today too. He knows that I want to talk so I was thinking that I should just wait for him when he’s ready.” Despite the positive words, Jihoon was still hunched over sullenly. Wanting to comfort him, Daehwi put his hand on his shoulder.

“Fighting!” He showed him a cheering fist and Jihoon laughed. Smiling for the first time in a while, Daehwi felt a little lighter. He had a plan now.  

 

\----

 

That evening, Seonho sat on his bed staring down at his homework handouts. One pile was finished while the other pile had questions he didn’t know how to answer. He’d get Minhyun to help him with it later. His mood improved with just the thought of his favorite hyung.

Guanlin came in with a towel wrap and flip flops, freshly showered. Seonho was glad that his roommate was finally starting to get his life back together. That weekend had just been awful. He’d seriously been concerned about his mental health.

“By the way, I’m leaving for Taiwan tomorrow,” he casually announced as if he was talking about dinner. He grabbed clothes out of his closet. Seonho looked at him, stunned.

“But we have school tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I’m just gonna take a mini vacation this week to see my family. Clear my mind, you know.” Guanlin started to put on pajamas. Then he pulled his suitcase out.

“Oh, yeah, I guess so. Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Though he’d miss school work, Seonho decided it was probably better in the bigger picture if Guanlin took a break. That thing with Jihoon had really devastated him and Seonho knew how close he’d considered him. It would be good if Guanlin got to spend time with his family and old friends.

_Buzz. Buzz._

 

Samuel:

_21:54 Do you have the answer to 43.c?_

 

Seonho flipped through his papers to find the question. It was in the pile of sheets to ask Minhyun about.

“Guanlin, did you finish the homework?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Do you wanna look at my answers?” Guanlin tossed him a binder to which Seonho flinched at. “Ow, thanks.” Quickly he texted the answer back to Samuel. Seonho was friendly with everyone in the class which was why he had all their numbers. But he always found Samuel to be a little weird. He was a kid with no chill at all.

 

Seonho:

_22:02 btw Guanlin’s leaving for Taiwan tomorrow for a week vacation. So he can’t help us with the homework anymore._

 

There was no immediate response so Seonho put the phone on the nightstand. He’d finished what he could with his and Guanlin’s knowledge. Now it was time to bother Minhyun. It was just around the time that Minhyun would be done with his homework as well.

Guanlin rolled his eyes when he saw Seonho leave the room. They both knew where he was going.

“I’m going to bed now since I have an early flight.”

Seonho paused and nodded. “Okay, I’ll come in quietly then when I’m done.”

“Good night.”

“Night.”

Seonho tiptoed over to the door across the way. Before knocking, he put his ear to the door to listen in. Instead of the psycho giggling that he usually expected from Jaehwan, it was strangely quiet. Too quiet.

His hand rested on the door handle and he realized it was ajar. Then, there was a low moan. And then a higher pitched one. Was that, was that a girl?! Did Minhyun have a girl over? But there was no string on the door. That was Jonghyun hyung’s rule if you had a girl over. All the boys had to put string on the door to let everyone know not to come in.

Normally, Seonho would follow these rules but this was his beloved Minhyun hyung. He had to protect his innocence. During their sex education talk with Dongho, he hadn’t missed how Minhyun had also been learning as well. The fact that Minhyun was so virginal only made him more endearing to Seonho.

The moans came again but louder. That was it. He pushed the door opened and braced himself for a scandalous scene. He was prepared for anything. Minhyun in bed with a girl, Minhyun in bed with two girls, even Minhyun in bed with a guy.

The sight he was greeted with instead was Minhyun and Jaehwan on the floor with blankets, pillows, and tissue boxes. A laptop lay in front of them.

Upon seeing Seonho, they froze in complete surprise. Lights flashed from the laptop and more sexual noises came out from it. Instantly, Minhyun slammed the laptop down with a loud thack.

Jaehwan glanced at Minhyun but Minhyun only stared petrified back at Seonho.

Remembering his original reason for coming in, Seonho quickly decided it wasn’t worth it. He’d rather take a scolding from Kahi than enter this awkward atmosphere.

“I’ll just leave now.” He slowly backed out.

“Wait, Seonho.” Minhyun started to stand up but then pulled the blanket up around his waist. Jaehwan’s giggling started up again.

“No, no, you guys keep doing what you’re doing. I’ll go. So sorry.” Seonho repeatedly bowed in apology and slid back to the doorway.

“It’s not what you think!” Seonho grabbed the door and swung it closed before hearing, “It’s Jaehwan’s fault!” More high pitched cackling could be heard. Then a loud smack!

“Shut up, Jaehwan!”

Seonho was just gonna pretend this never happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for that last scene. I needed a filler and was reminded of when Jaehwan suggested watching r rated movies with Minhyun in wanna one go.  
> Idk I think this chapter is kinda boring but things will get fun in the next one :)


	14. Flight

The next morning Samuel’s alarm woke him promptly at 7 o’clock. Yawning groggily, he sat up and a stack of papers fell onto the floor into a mess. Throwing back the covers, he heard crunches indicating there were still more sheets underneath the blankets. He’d fallen asleep in the middle of finishing up his homework. Oh, that’s right, he never saw what the answer to the question he’d been stuck on was. Checking through his messages, he scrolled through the message history with Seonho.  

“Oh? Guanlin is leaving?” He said to himself. “I should tell Daehwi.” Forgetting about the homework, he typed out a new message.

 

Samuel:

_7:12 Hey I heard Guanlin is leaving for Taiwan today._

 

He put the phone down and picked up his worksheets. He hoped he was the first one to tell Daehwi the news this time. Maybe he’d want to walk to school with him again. The thought excited Samuel who’d made very few friends ever since school started. Unlike him, Daehwi had made friends with quite notable people. Samuel was a little jealous but he reassured himself by reminding himself that he was still Daehwi’s best friend.

 

\----

 

Daehwi felt like he always saw the big news when he was in bed. He also felt like he always woke up to Samuel messaging him, asking if he wanted to go to school together. Today was no exception. Forgetting to reply to Samuel, he went to another conversation box.

 

Daehwi:

_7:22 Hyung, I just heard Guanlin’s going back to Taiwan today! TT_

 

Since he didn’t have Jihoon’s number he hoped that Woojin would be able to pass on the message. Though he didn’t know the other first year that well, he pondered why he would leave Mnet High. It was so abrupt to leave in the middle of a semester. Could it have been because of Jihoon?

He rubbed his eyes as he considered this possibility. Based on his conversation with Jihoon yesterday, it seemed like Jihoon was more than willing to work things out with him unlike Baejin. And he was pretty sure Guanlin still liked him a lot too. But maybe Guanlin didn’t know that Jihoon still wanted him.

Argh! He ruffled his hair fiercely. It was too early in the morning for this.

 

\----

 

A phone buzzed outside of a bathroom with the shower running. Twenty minutes later, Park Woojin was dressed for school. Grabbing his phone, he checked the messages on his way out the door.

 

Daehwi:

_7:22 Hyung, I just heard Guanlin’s going back to Taiwan today! TT_

 

Pausing, he tried to remember who Guanlin was. Oh, that’s right, it was the boy that Jihoon really liked. Whoa, was he really leaving just like that? He’d only been here for like a month. His thoughts then moved to Jihoon and he became alarmed. Someone needed to tell him his boyfriend was skipping town. His fingers itched to call Jihoon but remembered that he was on the subway. He’d tell him first thing at school.

 

\----

 

Stepping out of the taxi, Guanlin thanked the driver and took his luggage. He’d only packed a small suitcase for the mini vacation. The rest of his things were at home anyways. The early morning sun peeked out behind the clouds and for the first time, he felt a sense of calmness.

Inside the airport lobby, he checked into the airline and handed over his luggage. The airport wasn’t too busy as it was a Tuesday. Double checking his ticket for the gate number, he strode to the matching security gate.

 

\----

 

Jihoon walked into his class with a little pep in his step. Today was the day that no matter what, he would get Guanlin to listen to what he had to say. He was confident that once he understood what the situation had been, he’d forgive him. Of course, Jihoon would act really cute and sorry too.

The second he entered the room, a hand yanked him aside. With a yelp, he turned to see Park Woojin. His eyes were big with frenzy.

“Jihoon! Guanlin is leaving for Taiwan right now!” His words tumbled out in a rush. It took a second for him to process the words.

“What?” His mouth dropped open in shock. Blankness descended upon him. He couldn’t think, he was absolutely stupefied.

“Yeah, Daehwi told me this morning that he’s leaving today.” Seeing him frozen like a statue, Woojin tried to shake him. “Dude, you should call him if you ever want to see your boyfriend again.”

At the mention of boyfriend, Jihoon snapped out of it. Whipping his phone out of his pocket, he called Guanlin. Anxiously, he heard the tone dial.

“We’re sorry, the person you are trying to reach is not available. Please-”

Ending the call angrily, he paced for a few moments. “What do I do? Oh, god, he didn’t answer.” His anxiety was increasing tenfold. Woojin reached for him but he suddenly stopped, snapping his head up.

“I have to go there myself.”

“What? Are you crazy? What if he’s already left by now? What if you’re too late?” Woojin was gaping at him in disbelief. Jihoon just stared back with a determined look in his eyes.

“I’ll take that risk. I’ll take any risk if it’s for Linlin. I’ll even take the next flight to Taiwan if I have to just to chase him down.”

 

\----

 

After security, Guanlin prepared to pass through immigration. He was unaware that while his backpack had passed through screening, his phone had rung. Passport in hand, he entered immigration. After scanning his fingerprints and eyes, he was cleared to go to the terminals. Wandering down the row, he wondered if he should buy some last minute souvenirs. Everything at airports is always so overpriced though, he thought to himself. He decided to get them gifts next time when he had more time.

As it was early in the morning, he decided to stop in one of the stores to buy breakfast. Now he was ready with croissants packed in his bag. Checking his watch, he hurried down the airport row. Boarding would begin shortly.

 

\----

 

Dashing down the hall, Jihoon almost tripped down the stairs on the way to 1-2’s classroom. His heart seemed to pound louder than his footsteps. An awful sick feeling settled in his gut. It was like the day the scandal broke out all over again except this time it was worse. This time, he might never see Guanlin again.

This fear pumped adrenaline through him. Skidding to a halt, he panted while searching wildly around in the classroom. People gave him strange looks but he didn’t care. His eyes locked on his target. Marching up to him, he yanked out his earbuds. Seonho looked up at him with a startled expression.

“Which airport is Guanlin at?” He wheezed out, trying to catch his breath.

“What? Are you okay? Do you need some water?” Seonho dug inside his bag.

“No, just tell me where Guanlin went.” Impatiently, Jihoon almost shook him but refrained from doing so. His self control was holding on by a thread. The love of his life was about to leave the country and he only had a slim chance of stopping him.

“Why should I tell you if you didn’t hear it from Guanlin?” Seonho folded his arms judgingly. “Maybe he didn’t want you to know.”

Without even realizing what he was doing, his hands grabbed Seonho by the collar, lifting him out of the seat.

“Maybe you should stay out of our fucking business,” he hissed venomously. “Now tell me which airport?”

The fire in his eyes made Seonho swallow nervously. “It’s Incheon Air-” He was tossed back in his chair before he even finished his sentence. Jihoon had raced out the door.  

“Wait!” Seonho called after him in confusion. There was no answer. Seonho sat back down, not understanding what just happened. All he knew was that Jihoon was really scary when he was mad.

“I guess he wanted to say a last goodbye.” Samuel pulled up a chair next to him. “I bet you’ll be really lonely without Guanlin around anymore.”

“What?” Seonho didn’t understand anything. It wasn’t like Guanlin was leaving for good. Suddenly the lightbulb clicked.

“Samuel! Give me your phone!” Seonho lunged for it on the desk without waiting for permission. “What did you say about Guanlin leaving?” Scrolling through his messages, he found the guilty one sent to Daehwi.

 

Samuel:

_7:12 Hey I heard Guanlin is leaving for Taiwan today._

 

With an incensed expression, he showed the text to Samuel. “He’s only going for a week vacation, you fool! You didn’t say for a week!” Seonho smacked his forehead in annoyance.

“Wait, really? It’s only for a week?” Samuel exclaimed grabbing his phone to look at the message again.

“Why don’t you look up reading comprehension?” Seonho retorted. Now everyone was gonna think Guanlin was leaving for good. Oh shit, Jihoon! That’s why he’d been so angry. It all made sense now.

With a start, Seonho rushed out of his seat. Sprinting down the hall, he had to catch Jihoon to tell him he didn’t have to go to the airport. He exited the building and scanned the area. There! Jihoon disappeared around the school gate. With a groan, he hurried after him.

Jihoon was about to cross the street but the timer was counting down. As the lights changed to yellow, a car raced down the road directly in the path of Jihoon.

“Jihoon! Look out!”

 

\----

_Five minutes earlier…_

 

Guanlin sat near his gate, waiting for his section to be called. He wished he had gotten a first class seat but that was just how it was when he only booked two days in advance. The flight was less than three hours anyways and business class was just as good.

The monitors overhead flashed to announce priority boarding. As he’d waited, he thought about his family. They would be delighted to see him, of course. His sister was going to come pick him up at the airport. But his thoughts kept drifting to Jihoon. Though he was relieved to have a reprieve for a few days, he wondered if it was really alright to leave things the way they were. Were they even still dating? He supposed the bigger question was whether either of them still wanted to or not.

 

\----

 

Jihoon ran out the school as quickly as he could. He had to go faster and faster. His legs took him to the crosswalk across from the station. A taxi would’ve been quicker but he wasn’t thinking right. All he can think about is catching Guanlin before his plane leaves. There’s so many things that he never got to say to him.

Not looking both ways, he darted out into the street. The walk sign was nearly zero but he had to make it.

The next few moments seem to simultaneous happen in an extended frozen time space and then all at once. He heard a shout and slowly turned his head. A car loomed before him. Though he saw it near him, his body won’t move, it’s too slow. There’s a sudden flash of pain and the world turned upside down. Then only darkness. Nothing.

 

\----

 

The monitors flashed to display first class boarding. Impatiently, he checked his phone and realized he had a missed call from Hoonie. It was from about fifteen minutes ago.

He wondered if he wanted to try to talk to him again. Maybe he should call him back. His thumb hovered over the phone icon. But wouldn’t he be in school by now?

The monitors flashed again and they called business class. Ultimately, he closed his phone case and headed into line. As he neared check in, his mind wandered to Jihoon again. When he returned, he would definitely hear him out this time.

He was now second in line so he reached into his bag to pull out his boarding pass. Moving forward, his arm stretched out to hand it to the flight attendant…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before y'all raise your pitchforks, he's not dead. There's no tragedy tag in this story! I took the time to research car accidents and injuries but since I can't let him die, we're gonna have to do a lot of suspension of disbelief for the next few chapters.  
> I hope this makes sense with all of the shifts between people and the timing. I imagined it as a dramatic film scene where they go back and forth to heighten a sense of tension and anticipation.


	15. Red

_ He was now second in line so he reached into his bag to pull out his boarding pass. His arm reached out to hand it to the flight attendant… _

Suddenly his phone rang. Fishing it out of his bag, he saw Seonho as the ID. Giving the attendant an apologetic look, he stepped out of line to pick it up. 

“He-”

“Guanlin! You gotta come back right now!” Sirens blared over Seonho’s voice.

“What? I can’t hear you.”

“Jihoon’s been in an accident! He’s in an ambulance going to the ER right now!”

The phone slipped through his hands.

“Guanlin? Hello?”

He fell to his knees, his fingers shaking. There was no way it could be true. There’s no way Jihoon could possibly… The thought made his stomach lurch. He had to go back this very moment.

Picking up the phone again, he asked, “Seonho?”

“Oh, thank god you’re still here. Did you already leave?”

“No, I’m coming back right now. Which hospital do I go to?”

Guanlin ran through the airport back through security and out to arrivals. With zero regard to his luggage still in the airport, he flagged a taxi and gave directions back to school. 

In the car, he’d already hung up with Seonho who had to return to class. He’d promised to tell him the name of the hospital when he could. 

The 45 minute drive was agonizing for Guanlin. The knot in his stomach only squeezed tighter and tighter as his worries compounded. How had the accident happened? Seonho hadn’t said much beyond a car accident. But it school should’ve already started by the time he received the call. Maybe he’d come late to school and was in too much of a rush? 

Though he was immensely relieved that Jihoon was alive, he was also afraid of how injured he would be. He was reportedly unconscious when they’d taken him away in the stretcher. What if there had been permanent damage? What if Jihoon would never be able to speak or walk again? He bit his thumb in anxiety. 

_ Buzz. Buzz. _

Seonho had sent him the name and address of the hospital. Politely, he asked the driver to change destinations. Thankfully, it wasn’t too far from the school so it wouldn’t take longer. 

After what felt like an eternity, the car pulled up to the large hospital complex. Guanlin was about to dash out the door when the driver’s voice stopped him. He’d almost forgotten to pay. After taking care of that, he rushed into the building.

The ER was a bustling center of chaos. Quickly, he located what seemed to be a front desk. 

“Excuse me?”

“Do you require immediate attention and medical care?” The nurse gave him a quick once over. 

“No, I wanted to see Park Jihoon. He was taken here about an hour ago.” His fingers clutched at the desk. 

“Are you a family member?” She raised her eyebrows.

“No, I’m his,” he swallowed, his throat feeling dry. “I’m his boyfriend.” 

“Okay, sign this form.” She handed him a clipboard then went through some papers. Guanlin wrote down his information and the time. 

“Visiting hours are from 9 am to 5 pm. You are limited to two hours but it can be up to the patient’s discretion. Please follow standard rules of conduct in the patient rooms.” Her monotonous voice implied she had done this speech too many times. 

As he was about to hand the clipboard back, he noticed a name on the form before his. It was Bae Jinyoung’s. He had signed in just half an hour ago. A feeling of turmoil started to spread through him again. 

The nurse pointed him to the direction of the west wing where Jihoon had been taken. He hurried through the hospital’s corridors and signage. It was such a large complex and he was thankful that there was English on the signs as well. He hadn’t exactly studied medical vocabulary yet. 

As he approached another hallway, he saw Baejin emerging from a room. Their eyes met and tension filled the atmosphere. Baejin slid the door shut then took a few steps in his direction. Guanlin slowly approached him, determined. 

“Do you still like Jihoon?” 

His face flushed at the bluntness of the question but he had to ask it. They had to get to the root if they were going to fix this mess. 

“I don’t think we should discuss that here.” Baejin looked down at the ground. 

“I think we should,” he responded firmly. 

“What’s there to discuss? Jihoon and I used to be together and now we’re not.” Baejin moved to leave but Guanlin put up his arm. Stopping, he gave an irritated sigh.

“Really, then what was that kiss?” 

“Shouldn’t Jihoon have told you by now?” He crossed his arms almost smugly. Guanlin tried not to let that get to him. It was his own fault after all, that he pushed Jihoon away. 

“Just answer the question.” He tried to use his height to intimidate him although he felt like it was wrong to do it to an older boy. 

“I don’t have to listen to you.” His smirk aggravated Guanlin. He couldn’t figure out what game Baejin was playing but he didn’t want to participate. It was time to assert himself. 

“Jihoon is my boyfriend now no matter what kind of relationship you two had in the past. I love him and if you want him back, you’ll have to fight me.”

Pushing past a stunned Baejin, he hastened towards Jihoon’s side. His heart was pounding and his face was red from his bold declaration. But he wouldn’t take back a single word. He truly meant everything he said. The fear of losing Jihoon had made him realize just how important the boy was to him. He could look past the kiss. After all, he’d already decided to hear him out. He just hoped he wasn’t too late for Jihoon to change his mind. 

Once he saw Jihoon on the hospital bed he couldn’t help but let out a gasp. Covering his mouth, his eyes were on the verge of popping out. It seemed like Jihoon’s entire body was wrapped in bandages. There were strips around his head, torso, and legs. Blood had soaked through those, turning them pink. His eyes were closed and his face was pale. He looked small and frail and it broke Guanlin’s heart.

An IV along with some other tubes were hooked into him. His gaze followed them to nearby monitors that beeped ominously. Staggering toward him, he reached out to clasp his head. Before he could, a voice startled him.

“Don’t touch him please.” Whirling around, he saw a nurse standing by the entrance. She gave a small smile. 

“Sorry, but he’s very fragile right now. We’ll be taking him into the operating room soon.” She started to move some of the equipment. Guanlin felt like he was doing everything he could to not panic and hyperventilate.

“Operating room?” 

She nodded. “He’s suffered a lot of damage since it was a full on collision. From our initial analysis, it’s likely he has a broken leg, cracked rib, and possible brain damage.” With each word, Guanlin felt sicker. He covered his face with his hand to stop himself from tearing up. 

“How long will it take?” He forced out hoarsely. The nurse stopped to study him for a moment.

“Boyfriend?” She guessed and he nodded, unable to speak. “Alright then, hun, I honestly can’t give you an estimate but we’ll try our best to patch him up.”

She started to cart his bed out of the room and Guanlin followed. “Is it okay if I wait for him?” At this distance he was able to read her nametag, Kim Sejeong. She smiled back at him. “Usually I’d send you off to school but it seems like you weren’t planning to go anyways.” 

He tilted his head in confusion and she nodded towards his clothes. Looking down he realized he was in his airport fashion; jeans and a button up shirt, not a uniform. 

“It’s fine, kid. I’ll let you see him first thing after we’re done.” They continued until they reached the operating room. Apologetically, she said this was where he had to wait. There were seats by the wall just for this purpose. He collapsed into one and watched as Jihoon disappeared again. 

 

The next two hours dragged on like eternity. All he could do to prevent himself from thinking the worst was to people watch. But seeing their injuries only depressed him even more. Guanlin wasn’t religious but he thought if there was anyone out there possibly listening… No, he shook his head. That’s ridiculous. This isn’t like a drama, he thought to himself. But in case there was, he silently asked to please save Jihoon. 

Finally the doors opened and Jihoon was carted out. Immediately, he darted to his side. His right leg was in a cast and there were still a lot of gauzes. Thankfully, there wasn’t anymore blood to be seen. 

“Miss Sejeong? How is he?” Fearful of the answer, he didn’t meet her eyes. A hand touched his shoulder. “He’ll be alright now. We’ve got him in a stable condition.” 

The words made a shudder of relief go through him. He followed them back to Jihoon’s hospital room. Now that he wasn’t in a state of panic, he was able to notice how nice the room was. Jihoon’s name was already printed up outside the door. A private bathroom was attached and the room was spacious enough to have a seating area. He wondered if Jihoon’s family was wealthy. 

Seonho was waiting by the door. His eyes went wide when he saw how bandaged up Jihoon was. 

“Guanlin!” He called him over. “Is Jihoon okay? I came as soon as the lunch bell rang.” Guanlin pulled him into a crushing hug. The warmth and comfort of another human gave him strength. Returning the hug, Seonho rubbed his back. 

“We ran scans and patched him up as best we could. His leg and rib will take a few months to fully heal but they should have no major issues. It’s his brain that we’re really worried about. The impact caused a lot of trauma to his brain.” Nurse Sejeong pressed her hands together. “I’m afraid that I have to tell you both that we won’t know the extend of the damage until he wakes up.” She paused.

“When will he wake up?” Guanlin was suddenly afraid of the answer. He didn’t want to hear the words he thought she’d say. 

“I’m afraid I’m unable to tell you that. Right now, he’s in a coma.” There it was. The words he didn’t want to hear. He took a seat with his hands over his face as if to hide from the reality. 

“Don’t lose hope,” Nurse Sejeong tried to console him. “Most people wake up in a few weeks from a coma. A permanent state is very rare.” She then left to check on some other patients. 

“What happened this morning? Why did this happen?” He turned to Seonho with a troubled expression. He let out a sound of disgust. 

“An bad game of telephone started,” Seonho responded grimly. At Guanlin’s confused look, he explained how word of him leaving for Taiwan had gone around and eventually made its way to Jihoon. 

“He thought I was really leaving? Is that why he was in such a rush? To see me?” His skin paled and he was absolutely aghast. To think that he had been the cause behind the accident. Seonho saw what he was thinking and was quick to say, “It’s not your fault.”

But it was too late. The guilt started to set in and he didn’t think he could feel any worse. On top of his boyfriend almost dying, he was the reason why it happened. 

_ Buzz. Buzz. _

Startled, he fumbled to get his phone out of his pocket. The ID was his sister. Shit, he’d forgotten to tell them he hadn’t gotten on the plane. 

“Hello?”

“Where are you?” The sound of flights taking off could be heard in the background. 

“I’m still in Seoul.” He was suddenly aware of Seonho edging closer to listen with fascination. It wasn’t like he could understand anyways. 

“What?” An angry sigh. 

“There was an emergency so I didn’t board the plane. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner.” 

“Guanlin, I skipped class to come get you.”

“But you would’ve skipped class anyways,” he pointed out. She groaned. “What am I supposed to tell mom? She made a big dinner for you.” Guilt clenched at him again. He’d have to go home for real soon to make up to his family. 

“Invite the neighbors over?” She ignored him again and asked, “So, what was your emergency? Are you hurt?” 

“Nice of you to ask that now. No, it was my,” he paused, unsure whether his sister would blab to his mom or not. “My friend. He got in a car accident.” Unlucky for him, she picked up on it right away.

“Oh hoho? Does mom know you have a boyfriend?” Though she couldn’t see him, her teasing made him blush a little. 

“No, and you’re not gonna tell her.” Seonho tugged on his arm and motioned to his watch. “I gotta go now. Don’t you dare tell mom.” She only responded with a little giggle before hanging up. With an exasperated sigh, he put his phone away. 

“The lunch period is going to be over soon.” Seonho started to pack up his things. “Are you gonna come back to school?” 

“No, I want to stay here in case something happens.” He had his backpack of snacks, notebooks, and phone. He could surely find something to do to occupy his time while he waited for Jihoon to wake up.

“But he might not wake up for a while. Are you really gonna miss school for him?” Seonho slung his backpack over his shoulder. Guanlin shrugged. “I wasn’t planning to go to school for the week anyways.” 

Seonho left and Guanlin spent the rest of the day in the same sofa chair, staring at Jihoon. Sometimes he’d try to draw, sometimes he dozed off. He only risked leaving his side for the toilet and even then, he rushed right back. Nurse Sejeong had taken some pity and gave him some lunch when she saw his snacks. The food was pretty decent but it was the last thing on his mind.

The sun was setting, painting the room a soft orange. The corridor which had had bustling workers around earlier, quieted down. Nothing had changed in Jihoon’s status which disappointed him. But he knew he couldn’t expect a miracle in a day. 

“Hun, you’re still here?” Nurse Sejeong entered with her hands on her hips. “You should go home. He’s not gonna wake up tonight.” When he didn’t move, she tried again. “Visiting hours will be over soon. I can only allow you to stay if you’re family.”

Resigned, he slowly stood up and gathered his stuff. Taking a last look at Jihoon, he asked, “Are you sure he won’t wake up tonight?” 

Her face softened. “How about this? If he wakes up, then I’ll tell you first thing. I’m the nurse on duty tonight.”

“Really?” 

“Mm.” They exchanged contact information. 

“Alright then, Lai Guanlin, off you go.” He cracked a small smile. “Thanks for everything, miss Sejeong.” Waving, she saw him off. She was sure he’d return at the crack of dawn. With a sigh, she wished there was someone who was that devoted to her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all. Yes, I did put him in a cliche coma. It'll all be okay in the end though. Nurse Sejeong will take good care of him. Also, please disregard my lack of medical knowledge/accuracy.  
> I've been working on another fun fic that y'all should give a read especially if you like insane crack fics. [Hands on Me]. Check it out if you haven't already. Please don't hate us for it.


	16. Hide and Seek

Nurse Sejeong yawned as she made her final rounds before clocking off her shift. The birds had been chirping for hours already and the sun was peaking up beyond the horizon. Nothing unusual had happened that night and like she’d predicted, Jihoon hadn’t woken. 

Her back was to the door when she heard it slide open. With a small smile she figured it must’ve been that kid again. Turning around she was not expecting to see a girl timidly standing by the entrance.

“Can I help you?” She asked cautiously. 

“Is this Park Jihoon’s room?” She inched closer after Nurse Sejeong nodded. A special visitor pass hung from her neck. 

“How is he?” There was a sense of wariness and fear in her voice. Sejeong thought that this Jihoon must be very loved. She explained to her his status and that it was unknown when he’d wake up. 

After a few moments of staring down at him, she turned back to Sejeong. “Can you do me a favor? Don’t let anyone know I was here.”

She gave her a weird look but reluctantly agreed. Sejeong figured it was probably some typical high school romance triangle drama. 

 

\----

 

Baejin was in a sour mood. His phone buzzed nonstop now with messages from his mother. Apparently, she thought that he would dance for her like a good puppet now that the marriage and merger was solidified. He was sour about that too. It wasn’t like he hated the girl but she was someone he barely knew. All this time, he’d held onto a small sliver of hope that they’d never actually go through with the engagement. How wrong he was. He should’ve known his mother would use anything to advance her own interests. 

Exiting the subway, he headed across the street to the hospital to check on Jihoon one more time. The confrontation with the first year, Lai Guanlin, had caught him off-guard but he admired how gutsy he was. That was the kind of guy Jihoon deserved, not someone like him. 

He filled out a special visitor form at check in and headed to Jihoon’s room. Normally, patients would share rooms and have curtain partitions dividing them. He hadn’t told anyone but he had arranged for Jihoon to have a private room and the best care available. His mother would be angry at him for using his influence and money like that but he didn’t care. It was the least he could do to make up well, everything to him. 

The elevator opened and he was surprised to see Kwon Hyemi on the other side. Her expression was in equal surprise. Her face flushed as if she had something to hide. His eyes narrowed at her.

“What are you doing here?” His tone was casual but his posture suggested anything but. He stepped off the elevator in a way so that she couldn’t get on until the doors closed. 

“Just seeing someone,” she stammered nervously. He came closer making her back up. 

Would this someone be a Park Jihoon?”

“No! I don’t even know a Park Jihoon.” She looked away when his eyes bore into hers. “I was just seeing someone else before school, which, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get to.” She tried to step around him but he held up his arm. 

“Why don’t we go together. I’ll make a quick visit and then we can take your car.” He took a solid hold of her arm and pulled her along. 

 

\----

 

Just outside of the hospital, across the street, Daehwi crouched in the bushes. His legs were starting to hurt and it was cold but he didn’t move. By chance, he’d seen Baejin in the subway and followed him here. The likely explanation was that he was visiting Jihoon although the timing was a bit strange. It was around seven in the morning. But on the chance that there was something else going on, he had to investigate. 

His persistence was rewarded when he spotted Baejin emerge from the hotel with Kwon Hyemi trailing behind him. His eyes narrowed at them. Very interesting, he thought. They approached a nice black car and started to get in.

Click. Click. Click. Click.

A flurry of shutter sounds made him whirl around in alarm. There was no one there. Only a black bag lay a meter away. Someone had left it there. The sound had stopped too. Maybe he was just imagining it.

He turned back to focus on Baejin and Hyemi but they were already in the car driving away, likely to school. Checking his phone, he realized that he better get going too. As he left, he smiled, pleased that this hadn’t been a complete failure. He’d confirmed a link between Baejin and Hyemi and he was gonna find out what that was. 

 

\----

 

Gunhee waited until Daehwi had disappeared down the subway entrance before letting out a breath. Carefully, he shimmied down the tree with his camera strapped around his neck. Bark scraped his legs. The things he did for good photos, he thought to himself. Dispatch should hire him after he graduates. Well, if he managed to graduate, that is. 

Leaning up against the tree, he checked the photos again. They were perfect shots of Baejin and Kwon Hyemi entering the same car together. Though he wasn’t sure why, he knew this information would eventually come in handy. They always did.

He carefully started to put away his equipment into his black bag. He was relieved Daehwi hadn’t thought to look up. He would’ve been done for, I mean, how could he explain why he was up in a tree with a huge camera? 

_ Buzz. Buzz. _ It was Principal Boa. 

“Hello?” Nervously, he picked up. He hoped she wasn’t going to press them about the Mnet board again. It was hard to even get close to those people. 

“Gunhee, I have some news that concerns you and the _club_.” She put emphasis on the word, ‘club.’ 

“Well, I hope it’s extra funding. These SD cards aren’t cheap.” His hands were on his hips as if Boa was right in front of him. 

“No, actually, I was contacted by one of the board members. I believe you’re aware of the new female student, Kwon Hyemi?” 

“Yes, what about her?” Suspicion pricked the back of his neck. She had arrived in a really nice car with a chauffer. 

“I have a strict request that nothing is to be reported about her. She’s completely off limits.” Gunhee looked down at his camera and at the pictures he just took. He guessed they’d just have to be secret for now. He never deleted anything. 

“Alright, I understand. Yes, thank you.” They hung up and he took another moment to contemplate what this meant. This had basically confirmed that Hyemi was related to a board member. Secondly, the rumors of her being a heiress were likely true. Furthermore, she was somehow connected to Baejin, a fact which clearly interested Daehwi. He brushed a leaf off his cheek. The plot thickens…  

 

\----

 

Guanlin knocked on the hospital door before entering. Disappointedly, he hadn’t woken up to a call so he came to the hospital instead of school. His hopeful mood was dashed by Nurse Sejeong’s plain expression.

“Hi hun, the good news is there’s no change but the bad news is that there’s also no change.” She glanced at his clothes. “Skipping school again?”

He nodded and took a seat on the chair again. He had a feeling he would become really familiar with this spot.

“I’m clocking off soon and another nurse will be taking care of him for the day. I’ll let her know that you’re a special visitor.” She winked and he thanked her. 

After she left, he came closer to Jihoon’s side to get a better look. There didn’t seem to be any visible changes. His hand trailed down his arm and gently stroked his hand. Tears threatened to fill his eyes. He had to believe he’d wake eventually. Guanlin promised him in that moment, that he’d wait for him forever.

 

\----

 

It was the afternoon just when school would’ve gotten out. Guanlin had spent the day reading to pass the time. A knock on the door made him put the book down.

It was Seonho with a flock of girls behind him. He gave him an apologetic look. 

“Jihoon’s fans wanted to see him.”

“Ah, okay, well try not to disturb him.” Excitedly, the girls came in past him. “And don’t touch him!” He called. 

“Here,” Seonho handed him a stack of packets. “It’s the homework for yesterday and today.” 

“Thanks.” The two of them sat on the sofa while the girls crowded around Jihoon’s bed. 

“Any updates?” Guanlin shook his head. “Just the same.” Seonho made sympathetic sounds. 

The girls suddenly started talking loudly. 

“When do you think he’ll wake up?”

“I can’t believe he’s hurt so badly.”

“Really, what a freak accident. Car accidents are so rare here.”

“I heard he was rushing to the airport. You know, because of him.”

One of them turned to Guanlin and glared.

“Yah! Isn’t it your fault our Jihoonie is like this?” 

Guanlin froze, stunned by the accusation. Seonho’s jaw dropped in astonishment. Before either of them could refute, another girl pushed the first one.

“Yah! Don’t accuse Guanlin of that! Was he the one who hit Jihoon, huh? That’s the person at fault, not him.” 

They began yelling at each other causing the nurse to rush in. “Girls! You need to leave if you can’t behave yourselves.” She ushered them out but the damage was already done.

Guilt washed over Guanlin because to a certain extent, it was true. If he hadn’t left for the airport that morning, Jihoon would be safe and sound, not lying in a hospital bed.

A hand touched his knee, startling him. Seonho’s was clearly concerned for him which touched him. 

“It’s not your fault, Linlin.” 

“I know,” he mumbled but he can’t shake the guilt off. 

 

\----

 

Baejin was not on his way home and neither was Daehwi. Instead, Baejin was taking the subway somewhere once again, and Daehwi was following him, once again. This time the ride was long and took them to the outskirts of the city. Baejin took a seat but Daehwi didn’t dare. Instead, he stood by the doors and tried to be inconspicuous. 

By this point, he figured that he didn’t make a great spy but as long as Baejin didn’t notice him, it was fine. He was a dense kind of person anyways, but Daehwi still loved him. That’s why he was doing this after all. It was for Baejin’s own good. 

Abruptly, he got up and off the train at the next stop. Quickly, Daehwi darted out to follow him while pulling up his white mask. He threw his hood on too for good measure. 

A sudden thought crossed his mind. Was this considered stalking? Immediately, he shook his head. No, he was just being a good friend. But he still frowned. Maybe Samuel was rubbing off on him. 

His thoughts were momentarily distracted by Baejin entering a mall complex. The doors were gold and looked fancy. Inside, all of the shops were luxury brand names. Daehwi was a little nervous to be in such a ritzy place. 

Baejin headed right to one store and the security guard outside the store opened the door for him. It was a well known jewelry brand. Perhaps, he was buying a new watch. 

Seeing a seated area nearby, Daehwi ducked behind a fake plant. The family sitting there gave him strange looks but he didn’t pay them any attention. He was glad that the storefront is made up of glass walls so it was easy for him to peek inside. 

Squinting, he made out Baejin peering over a display case. If only he had binoculars to see what he was looking at. A saleslady came up to him and he pointed to something in the glass. She nodded and took it out. It was too small for Daehwi to see properly. Within seconds, it was wrapped in a velvet blue box with a bow. 

Baejin moved towards the back of the shop, presumably to pay, and it was out of his sight. A few minutes later, he left the store but with empty hands. There was no shopping bag. He stopped before the mall doors and pulled out his phone. Quick fingers typed on the screen. Then he put his phone back in his pocket and left. 

Daehwi decided it was better to check out what Baejin had bought rather than follow him again. He went back to the store and over to the counter that he thought Baejin had bought from. Upon seeing what was inside, he concluded that he must’ve made a mistake. The case only contained engagement rings. 

“Can I help you, sir?” The saleslady startled him, smiling with thin politeness. Her eyes had already sized him up and deemed him to be someone not of the elite. 

“Can you tell me what that boy bought who was just here?”

“I’m sorry but we have a strict customer confidentiality policy. Is there anything else we can help you with?” He shook his head, wanting to get away from this cold woman. 

Gloomily, he was about to leave the mall when he saw a familiar uniform. It was Kwon Hyemi who had come in at a brisk pace. Daehwi immediately turned his head to hide his face but it was unnecessary. Her eyes zeroed in on the jewelry store that he had just left. 

After a few moments, she came out with a single shopping bag. Daehwi had been standing off to the side while waiting for her to appear. During this time he’d been contemplating his next move.

Baejin was obviously not going to tell him anything so the next thing to do was clearly to ask the person who was closest to him. Once, he thought it had been him. A pang hit his chest but he tried to ignore it. He was doing all this for the sake of getting him back. The idea that maybe Baejin just didn’t want to be with him was impossible. He couldn’t think that way. Somehow he’d convinced himself that Baejin just needed a little push. A reminder that Daehwi was a formidable person who didn’t let anyone walk over him. Someone who could be worthy of Baejin. 

As Hyemi was about to pass by him, he reached his hand out to grab her wrist. 

“Eep!” She gasped and placed her hand on her chest in alarm. “Oh, it’s just you. You surprised me.”

“Would you happen to be free now?” Daehwi smiled charmingly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It feels like it's been forever, guys. I had some essays to do so all my writing power was spent on that. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch up this weekend.


	17. Dress

The week went on and Guanlin still didn’t come to school. Seonho showed up every day after school to give him the homework and check on Jihoon. There had been no change yet but Guanlin kept a loyal vigilance. More classmates came see him as well. Guanlin didn’t know most of them but he’s glad that so many people care about Jihoon. 

One morning, he was surprised to see that people have arrived before him. They were an older couple and with a start, he realized it must be Jihoon’s parents. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t thought of them before. Maybe he was just used to being in the dorms where everyone lived away from their parents. 

“Ah, come in, Guanlin!” Nurse Sejeong’s voice called from inside. Timidly, he stepped in, unsure of how to introduce himself. He didn’t know whether Jihoon had told his parents about him or if they had dating restrictions like his mom. 

Both of them seemed like average parents. Their clothes were casual so he couldn’t even guess their occupation. He’d just have to wing it and hope for the best. 

“Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Lai Guanlin.” He bowed formally and they returned it. “Miss Sejeong was just telling us about you.” Mr. Park spoke, sizing him up. 

“Why don’t we take a seat and chat?”

Guanlin started to sweat a little. What had she told them? They moved to sit down on the sofas. He tried to keep a stiff posture, hoping that would give a good impression. 

“Yes, we heard you come see our son every day. You don’t go to school?” Mrs. Park asked with a sweet smile. 

“Oh, well, I was planning on taking some time off anyways.” He rubbed his warm neck and tried to shake his shirt for some more air in his shirt. 

“That’s really sweet of you. Our son must mean a lot to you.” Mrs. Park’s sharp eyes felt like they were staring into his soul. Guanlin saw where Jihoon’s pretty eyes came from. 

“Yeah, actually, I don’t know if Jihoon told you, but we’re dating. I’m um, his boyfriend.” He swallowed and looked down, afraid of the reaction. He didn’t have to be afraid for too long.

“How wonderful!” Mrs. Park clapped her hands together with a giant grin. “We finally get to meet the person who makes our Jihoon’s eyes sparkle. You’re quite the catch!” 

Guanlin’s face was steaming from her praise. Mr. Park stared at him for a few more seconds before grumbling, “These boys are so good looking nowadays.” Guanlin wasn’t sure what to make of this although it wasn’t like he disagreed. 

“Well, Guanlin, was it? You seem to be treating my son right so as long as you keep that up, you’ll be just fine.” Mrs. Park wrapped her arm around her husband.

“Jihoon is our only child so he’s our whole world to us.”

“Jihoon is my whole world too.” The words fell out of his mouth surprising everyone. Guanlin wanted to die of embarrassment. Really, he had to say that right in front of his parents. 

“Well, I’m so glad we agree on that.” Mrs. Park reached out to pat his hand. “I can see that you’re a really good kid. Jihoon will be so glad to see you when he wakes up.”

A heavy pause followed as everyone glanced at Jihoon lying on the bed. Guanlin rubbed his hands. 

“Don’t worry, honey. I’m sure he’ll wake up any day. When that happens, we’d love to invite you over for dinner.” 

“I hope you’re not a vegetarian. I don’t know what they eat in Taiwan.” Mr. Park added with a gruff smile. 

“Anything’s fine, really,” he reassured them as they stood up. “Well, honey, we’ve got to leave for now. Let us know if you need anything. We’d love to be your substitute parents while you’re here in Korea.” Before Guanlin could stop her, she took his phone to add her contact information. 

“Don’t forget and try to go to school too, dear. I wouldn’t want you to struggle later.” She handed it back to him with another honey smile. With that, they bid their farewell. 

Guanlin sat back down in the sofa trying to comprehend what just happened. 

 

\----

 

It was lunch time. Again. What a surprise. But that was the most important part of Daehwi’s day. He’d brought another bento box today but it wasn’t for Baejin. 

Waiting outside of a classroom, he saw girls pass by him giggling. His face threatened to flush but he tried to remain calm even though he’d never been to this side of school. If he liked girl groups then he could like regular girls too. 

As soon as Hyemi came out of the classroom, he approached her with a sunny smile. Startled, she averted her eyes and tried to shuffle away. 

“Hey, Hyemi! Let’s have lunch together. I made one just for you, so there’s no way you can’t eat it.” Daehwi took her arm so she couldn’t escape. 

“Oh, really?” She laughed nervously as he led her outside. Her pupils darted around as they passed other girls in the hall. 

“So, have you made any other friends yet? Besides me?” They finally sat down outside. He handed her the bento. 

“Um, well-”

“What about Bae Jinyoung?” His face came too close for her comfort. 

“What about him?” She laughed again for no apparent reason. Quickly, she opened the box and stuffed a huge bite of rice in her mouth. 

“You seemed kind of interested in him. Is it a crush?”

She almost choked on the rice, coughing. He handed her a napkin but didn’t let up on the questioning. 

“But don’t you also know Park-” Food was suddenly shoved in his mouth cutting him off. A single finger was put up in a warning to keep quiet. He wanted to ask why when he heard footsteps approach them. 

Suddenly, there was a shadow over them. They looked up to see Baejin standing over them with an unhappy expression. He didn’t look at Daehwi which made him to want to get his attention. How could he ignore him like this? Without a word, he grabbed Hyemi’s hand and pulled her up almost spilling her lunch. 

“Wait, what are you…” 

Daehwi watched him drag her off. He had half a mind to go after them. Not for Hyemi’s sake but for treating him so coldly. With a huff, he forced himself to wait. It wasn’t the right time yet. 

 

\----

 

Angrily, Baejin yanked her to the side of a building. She stumbled a bit but clutched the wall for support. Glaring at him, she asked, “What do you want?”

“Don’t talk to Daehwi.” The corners of his mouth were in a frown. 

“Why not?” She put her hand on her hip. “What kind of relationship do you have with him anyways?”

Her knowing look pissed him off. Why couldn’t she just behave like a good heiress and keep to herself? Her actions had been a little fishy lately. He was sure this wasn’t the first time she’d met with Daehwi but he wasn’t sure what she was trying to uncover. He had very little information on her in the first place. 

“That’s none of your business. Just don’t talk to him or tell him anything.” 

Her eyes flashed angrily. “I don’t have to do anything you say. I owe you nothing. I can be friends with whoever I want.”

She turned to leave but he held up his arm to block her. Leaning forward, he whispered in her ear. “You can say that now but not for much longer.”

Pushing him back, she stalked away back in the direction of Daehwi. Baejin watched her go with a dark expression. He didn’t like this at all. 

 

\----

 

Daehwi was surprised to see Hyemi return after disappearing with Baejin. He thought that maybe she would’ve gone for good. What was even more surprisingly, and slightly suspicious, was her warm smile. There was a definite change in her demeanor. 

“What was that all about?” 

She shook her head. “Nothing important.” She picked up her chopsticks to eat again. Daehwi had finished his in the meantime. 

“So, you were asking about Bae Jinyoung?” Chewing with her mouth full, she propped her head on her hands. His head snapped to hers with a start.

“Yeah, well, I was just curious about how you knew each other.” He tried not to stutter. He couldn’t ruin his chances if she was about to reveal something to him. 

“I can see what you’re doing, you know.” She popped a mini hot dog in her mouth. His heart beat started to increase. 

“W-what-”

“It’s okay, I won’t tell him. I can see that you really like him so I don’t blame you.” Daehwi didn’t know how to respond without incriminating himself. Even if she said she knew, what if she was just bluffing to get him to confess? Suddenly his eyes narrowed.

“You’re not working with Jinyoung hyung against me, are you?”

“Well, even if I was, I couldn’t tell you that now could I?” Her eyebrows raised at him and he suddenly felt like he was meeting the real Kwon Hyemi for the first time. She was definitely playing a game of her own too. 

“So, is there something you want?” 

She snapped her fingers startling him again. “You catch on real fast. I need you to do me a favor if the need should ever arise…”

Immediately, he nodded his head. He’d do anything to get close to Baejin again. 

“Done.” 

\----

 

After school, Hyemi headed home in her family’s luxury car. She was grateful for a respite from the busy school day but as soon as she reached her family’s mansion, she knew it was just start up again. 

As soon as she walked through the doorway, her mother called her over. Her mood instantly soured.

“Hyemi! Come here and try on these dresses!” 

“Mom, we’re at home. Can you at least call me by my real name?” With a sigh, the person known as Hyemi, yanked at her hair, until the wig came off. 

“Oh, Hyeop, I’m so sorry, I just-”

“Whatever,” he mumbled tossing the wig on a nearby chair. Shrugging off his blazer, he wanted to hurry and take off his uniform. 

“Since you’re changing anyways,” his mother hurried after him. “Why don’t you try on these dresses? They just arrived this morning.”

Hyeop ignored her as he walked down the hall with heavy footsteps. On the way, he passed a room with a dusty sign that read Hyemi. Reaching his own door which read Hyeop, he stopped with a sigh knowing his mother was right behind him.

“Just give me half an hour, okay? Then I’ll come play dress-up.”

“Hyeop…” A hand rested on his shoulder.

“I know this is hard on you but it’s the only thing we can do right now.” Hearing her sad voice made him sigh again.

“I know mom, but I wish you wouldn’t forget who I am.” He turned around to face her. “Hyemi isn't here anymore.” Seeing her eyes water, he wrapped her in a comforting hug. His sister’s name sign was in plain view as a reminder of who he was pretending to be. 

“Even after all these years, I just can’t forget.” Hyeop started to feel really bad when he heard her sniffling. 

“Okay, okay, let’s go look at the dresses now, yeah? I know it’ll make you feel better.” With his arm around her shoulder, they walked back to the living room. The sight of dozens of wedding dresses of varying shades of white should’ve made him queasy but by now he supposed he was used to it. He’d lived in his sister’s shadow for this long already. 

Something glinted in the sunlight. The ring box sat on the coffee table open. Hyeop thought it was a little too extravagant but it definitely showcased the Baes taste and wealth. The way Baejin had given it to him was the opposite of romantic. It wasn’t like he cared that much but if he were a girl, he’d have been pretty upset even if it was an arranged marriage. He wondered what Daehwi liked about him so much. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heol... what a shocking reveal.   
> Just how long will Hyeop be able to maintain his disguise? When will Jihoon wake up? Will Baejin ever start telling the truth before Daehwi finds out about the wedding? Will Seonho stop bothering Minhyun? When will Gunhee go too far? Will Boa be freed from her contract with Mnet? Will jinseob ever make an appearance again?   
> Will I answer any of these questions in the next chapter? Stay tuned... (✿◠‿◠)


	18. Once Upon a Dream

After school, Daehwi headed to an internet cafe. He figured that if this happened to be secret information, then it was better to do it at a public computer than at home. His assigned seat was next to a few gamers so he wanted to make it as quick as possible. Unfortunately for him, they were noisy.

“Yongguk,” one of them called to the other. “Teach me how to do this. What buttons do I press?” The other one didn’t answer, engrossed in his own game.

“Yonggukie,” he called again. He spun in the chair to tug at the other boy.

“Don’t call me that. I don’t know you.” The other boy finally muttered. Fast clicks and and clacking could be heard on his side. After a moment, Yongguk pushed the other boy’s chair to make space for him as he scooted over.

“God, just stop, you suck at this game so much it hurts me to watch. Look this is what you do.”

Shaking his head, Daehwi returned to his own screen to focus. Hyemi had given him a hotel name to look up. In the Naver search bar, he typed in, “Emerald Star Resort and Spa.” A luxurious looking hotel greeted him.

Clicking through their website, he didn’t find much. The site bragged that they were a five star and there were multiple photos to prove it. They all looked so high class. For fun, he typed in some dates to see how much it would cost to stay.

“Oh my god,” he breathed, seeing the amount of numbers. There was no way he’d ever be able to afford even the cheapest room.

Remembering his original mission, he tried to search some more. Under “History,” he found an interesting paragraph about the founder and CEO whose last name was Bae. There was no mention of family but he knew this couldn’t be a coincidence. Why else would Hyemi have directed him here.

So Baejin was related to a luxury hotel owner. He leaned back in the chair, biting his thumb. Wasn’t it likely then, that he would be his son? But nothing about Baejin had ever suggested he was wealthy? Or had he not been paying enough attention?

“Hyung, are you leaving?” The boys next to him broke his reverie. The one called Yongguk had stood up and put his backpack on.

“Don’t leave without me!” The first one chased after the second. With a sigh, Daehwi decided it was probably time to leave too. His mouse hovered over the X button but something stopped him.

Instead, he opened a new tab and searched the CEO’s name. Sure enough, there were articles on him. Most were business related. The most recent ones were something about a possible merger but he didn’t care about those. Scrolling down, he tried to go back further but there were too many to muddle through.

Frustrated, he added “family” to the search and crossed his fingers. This time he found what he was looking for. His fingers felt clammy against the mouse as he began to read.

Seven years ago, the CEO had remarried a woman who had a son from a previous marriage. Though it didn’t say his first name, his age was listed as 9 at the time. That would be the age Baejin would’ve been. Daehwi was now sure that Baejin was an heir.

Tearing his eyes away from the screen, his hand pressed against his forehead as he looked down. He had so many questions but for the most part he just felt confused again. He tried to work out what he knew by going through his information.

There was some kind of connection between Baejin and Hyemi. Hyemi knew that Baejin was related to the hotel CEO, likely the heir. Baejin wasn’t an heir by birth but by marriage. Was he an only child then? The sole heir?

None of the articles had any new information so he tried a new search. “Bae Jinyoung.” Most of the people that came up were unrelated but an old school photo of him caught his attention. The elementary school’s name was in the background.

 

\----

 

“Now remember, if you need anything, just ring the buzzer,” Nurse Sejeong pointed to the buttons by the side of Jihoon’s bed and the door. She pulled the curtains closed and dimmed the lights.

Guanlin nodded with a smile. He thanked her as she left then snuggled into the couch. It was the first night that he would be staying over at the hospital. Jihoon’s parents had given him permission on the condition that he return to school on Monday. He was more than happy to accept those terms. He was sure if he didn’t go back soon, Kahi would come looking for him anyways.

Pulling up the blankets, he set his laptop on his belly. After adjusting his pillow, he plugged in earphones so he wouldn’t disturb Jihoon. He wasn’t sure if he was aware of anything or not but he didn’t want to take any chances.

The hospital wifi was crappy as expected so he’d downloaded some dramas in advance. They were always handy for learning more vocabulary. As he watched, he tried to get comfy again but it was pretty hard with his feet dangling off the end of the sofa. He wondered if he grew again. He wanted to be as tall as his role model, Wooseok hyung.

As the night passed, his eyelids grew heavy and he couldn’t follow along to the show anymore. Though he’d planned to keep watch the entire night, he was dead tired from the entire week of events. Constant vigilance was harder than he thought. It was fine to sleep, right? After all, Jihoon hadn’t woken up any of the other times.

With half shut eyes, he closed the laptop and let it slide onto the floor. His hand reached for the remote to turn off the lights. The brightness that assaulted his eyelids told him he’d hit the wrong button. Trying another button, it was dark again. Perfect to drift off to sleep.

 

“Guanlin.”

“Linlin!” With a start, he opened his groggy eyes. It was too dark for him to see anything except the lights from the machines next to Jihoon’s bed. He thought he’d heard something from that direction.

“Guanlin, come here.” The voice called him again. It sounded like Jihoon’s. Guanlin had never dreamed about him before, but there was a first time for everything. With a small groan, he sat up and swung his legs over. His muscles ached and his head hurt. What a realistic dream.

Like a zombie, he stumbled over to the hospital bed. In the dark, Dream Jihoon’s face peered up at him questioningly.

“Come lie down.” Dream Jihoon patted the space next to him. He had scooted over to make room.

“Don’t wanna squish you,” he mumbled with a yawn. He swayed on his feet until Dream Jihoon’s hand took his wrist and gave a gentle tug. Giving up, he climbed in.

“I missed you.” Covers were pulled on top of them but he didn’t know how. Well, it was all part of the dream, right?

“I missed you too,” he responded as he nestled his head into their shared pillow. Dream Jihoon’s hand hadn’t let go of his yet but it didn’t bother him. He could feel something stroke his hand and it vaguely reminded him of something but he was too tired to think of what it was.

“Don’t ever leave me again.” Dream Jihoon whispered again.

“Mmhm,” was the only thing he could manage to reply before drifting off again.

 

The first sensation Guanlin was aware of was sunlight through his eyelids. The second was someone petting his hand. Remembering the dream from last night, he was suddenly confused. Was he still dreaming?

Opening his eyes, brown eyes stared back at him. Startled, he jerked backwards but there was no longer any bed to support him. With a cry, his top half crashed to the floor while his legs were still tangled up in the sheets.

“Guanlin!” From the floor, he looked up to see Jihoon peering over him with an anxious look. The pain from falling was forgotten as things sank in. Jihoon was awake. He hadn’t been dreaming. He was awake.

“Hoonie, you’re alive!”

Jihoon grinned back at his delighted smile. His hand reached out to help him up. Guanlin was about to take it but he hesitated.

“I can get up by myself. Wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.” As he tried to untwist himself, the door opened swiftly.

“Is everything okay here?” Nurse Sejeong ran in with a worried face that immediately changed to one of joy. “Oh, you’re finally awake!”

Quickly, Guanlin explained to him that she was his nurse and that he had been in the hospital for almost a week. By now he had gotten up from the floor and was awkwardly standing next to the bed. Nurse Sejeong quickly checked him over for any issues. In the meantime, Guanlin opened the curtains and adjusted the lights for day. The clock read 9:32 AM.

“I’m sure you two have a lot to catch up on so let me know when you want breakfast so I don’t interrupt.” With another beaming smile, she shut the door.

Now with just the two of them, the atmosphere became a little awkward. The relief of Jihoon finally waking up had dissipated as he remembered how they’d last left it between them.

He turned to face Jihoon with a sorry expression.

“Gua-”

“Jih-”

They both stopped and apologized with a blush. Guanlin motioned for him to go ahead but he shook his head.

“No, you go.”

“But hyung,” he protested.

“Whatever you have to say, I’ll listen.”

“That’s my line.” Ashamedly, he looked down at the sheets. “I’m sorry I didn’t hear you out before. I was, I was just really hurt.” It was hard for him to say but he forced the words out of his throat. “It felt like you lied to me.”

“I know, and I’m sorry that I hurt you like that. I should’ve told you sooner about my past relationship with Jinyoung and what had happened that night. I guess I just thought no one would find out.” Jihoon bit his lip.

“Do you,” he swallowed, “Do you still like-” Before he even finished the question, Jihoon desperately shook his head.

“The only person I like is you now,” he said firmly. Sparks began to fly in his heart but then he noticed Jihoon’s downcast face.

“What’s wrong?” He was alarmed to see tears developing in his beautiful eyes. Maybe he was hurting. His hand reached for the buzzer but froze upon his next words.

“Are you going back to Taiwan? Are you going to leave me?” His broken tone was like needles stabbing him. Guanlin remembered the reason why he’d gotten in the accident in the first place and he felt even worse.

“Hoonie, I’m so sorry,” he began but Jihoon buried his face into the pillow. “I knew it.” His voice was muffled. “You are leaving.”

“No!” Crying frantically, he reached out to touch his shoulder. “That’s not what I mean. It’s just that you got hurt because of me.” A lump filled his throat again as he glanced at all of the bandages and casts on him.

“I wasn’t leaving, I mean, I was but I was going on a trip. I wasn’t going to leave Korea permanently.” As he explained, understanding dawned on Jihoon and he turned his head back to face him.

“You’re not leaving?” He sniffled.

“No, it was just miscommunication that lead you to think I was.” He sighed as he thought of the string of messages. News traveled way too fast at Mnet.

“Prove it.” Guanlin gave him a weird look. Jihoon patted the bed. “Climb in.”

Guanlin was pretty sure that didn’t prove him not leaving but he didn’t need any excuse to be closer to him. His face started to warm as he remembered the previous night. Of course it would be the night when he hadn’t kept watched that Jihoon would wake up.

In bed, they faced each other. Guanlin had never seen him from this angle. He liked it a lot. Reaching forward, he gently grasped his hands.

“I love you, Hoonie. I want us to go forward now with no secrets between us. Only us.” He nodded again.

“I love you too, Linlin. I promise you that I’ll always tell you the truth.” He offered his pinky finger which Guanlin took. They shook on the promise.

An impulsive urge suddenly overcame him. Leaning forward, he gave a small peck on his lips. At first Jihoon was surprised then he blushed. Guanlin just smiled contently. He was just so happy he could lie here forever.

_Grrrggg._

His stomach growled and a laugh came from Jihoon. “Guess we should call the nurse back in for breakfast, right?” His eyes twinkled. “I want to eat real food again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M REALLY SOFT  
> also that was Shihyun with Yongguk playing overwatch


	19. Detective Daehwi

Daehwi glanced at the phone number he’d written down and took a deep breath. He’d tried calling the school to ask about Baejin but as expected, they had a confidentiality policy. The person on the other line had suggested speaking to his old teacher as she no longer worked at that school. They’d given him the teacher’s phone number to call.

After dialing, he waited until someone had picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hello, are you Ms. Lee?”

“Yes, can I help you?”

“I wanted to ask about one of your previous students, Bae Jinyoung. Do you remember him?”

“Hmm, let’s see. Ah, that boy. I do remember him although his name wasn’t Bae at the time. What’s this all about?”

“Ah, I’m doing an exposé on heirs?” His tone came out more as a question and he wanted to hit himself. This was not good sleuthing. He tried again to be more firm.

“I’m collecting information on their childhoods to study how they’ve grown up under their circumstances.”

“I see.” There was a pause and for that moment, he was scared she wasn’t going to believe him.

“Well, I can tell you that he was a good kid before he was ever an heir. The marriage happened the year he was in my class. The poor boy took it really hard.”

“Really? Can you tell me more about that?”

“Well, you know how young kids are with change. I believe his mother had been divorced from his father since he was a toddler so it had been the two of them for a while. It seemed like he hadn’t taken a liking to the new marriage.”

“Did he not like his stepfather?”

“I’m not sure. Some of the friendships changed in the classroom after this.” Ms. Lee said this part slowly as if she were hinting at something.

“At any rate, he became quite depressed and angry. I wanted to recommend him to counseling but because he was in the spotlight, it wouldn’t be good for his image.”

“Did he have any siblings?”

“No, he was his mother’s only child. Actually, I think that his stepfather didn’t have any children either.”

There was a sudden shrill screech in the background followed by wailing. “I have to go now dear. Try to be understanding of Jinyoung. He was really a good boy.” She hung up.

 

\----

 

“Say ah,” Guanlin held up a spoonful of yogurt. Jihoon rolled his eyes playfully. “I can feed myself.”

“You can but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you.” When he opened his mouth to protest, Guanlin pushed the spoon in. He grinned as Jihoon reluctantly swallowed.

The two of them were having a late breakfast before Jihoon had to go for checkups and testing. Nurse Sejeong said the results should be optimistic although he would definitely need a wheelchair for his leg and physical therapy afterwards.

Guanlin was more than happy to help Jihoon get around. He’d lifted him into the wheelchair then wheeled him to the bathroom though Jihoon fervently protested he could go by himself. His face was so red he thought that he’d pass out so Guanlin ended up standing outside the door. He still kept an ear to the door though in case he fell or had a problem. Though he was also slightly embarrassed, Jihoon’s health was his number one priority. He couldn’t be squeamish about basic human necessities. Nurse Sejeong had commented that he could be a nurse with all this experience but he answered that he only wanted to be one for Jihoon.

After Jihoon told him he was done, he wheeled him back to the main room. Right before he was about to lift Jihoon back up, he suddenly said, “Wait, I want to sit like this for a little while longer.” He looked up at him with a small smile. “I think I’ve done enough lying around.”

Guanlin nodded understandingly and placed him across from the sofa chair so they could talk. Jihoon then glanced around the room taking it in for the first time.

“This is a really nice room.”

“Is it your first time in a hospital?” Jihoon shook his head. “When I was a kid, I sprained my ankle hiking. I had to get a brace for it. But this is the first time I’ve stayed overnight. I wonder if all the rooms are as nice as this.” He sniffed the flower vase and was delighted to discover that it was real.

Guanlin had actually been wondering that as well. Nurse Sejeong had done some snooping for him, since he hadn’t wanted to outright ask Jihoon’s parents. The only thing she could tell him was that the room had been sponsored by an anonymous benefactor. Not wanting to get her in trouble, he decided not to say anything.

“So, you’ve been out all of last week.” He changed the subject, trying to talk about something friendly.

“Oh, yeah. What did I miss?”

“Not too much?” With a sheepish smile, Guanlin admitted that he hadn’t been to school either.

“Wait, you really didn’t go?” He laughed at his astonished look.

“But what about your grades? I don’t want them to suffer because of me.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re more important to me.”

“But still…” Biting his lip, he looked down. “You should really prioritize your school work. I don’t want you to regret anything.”

Guanlin didn’t think he would but he didn’t want to argue with him. Jihoon seemed a little lost in thought so he tried to move onto a new topic.

“I heard there’s a new transfer student. I haven’t seen her yet though.”

“Really? We seem to get quite a few transfer students. Any reason to her transfer?”

Guanlin shook his head. “But the rumor going around is that she’s an heiress. I guess her family owns a hotel, or something like that. Ah, her name is Kwon Hyemi.”

Tilting his head, Jihoon pursed his lips in thought. “Why does that name sound familiar?” He murmured to himself.

Shrugging, Guanlin just watched him try to think of it. His concentrated expression was so cute. “Don’t think too hard. I don’t want you to hurt your head again,” he warned him. The bandages wrapped around his head still gave reason to worry.

“No, I remember now. I used to go to school with her and her brother. They were twins but I was closest with her brother of course.”

“Oh, that’s cool.”

“Yeah, I haven’t seen them in years. They moved to a different school and we didn’t keep in touch. Wow, I’d love to see them again.” Guanlin chuckled at his enthused smile.

“Did they look alike since they were twins?”

“Yeah, they were identical but you could easily tell them apart once you knew them. I bet I could still tell them apart if I saw them now.”

“Well, whenever you’re cleared to go back to school, we can go see her together.”

“Mm, yeah sure.”

Nurse Sejeong came in shortly after to take Jihoon to get checked over. Guanlin wanted to help wheel him but she said that he couldn’t come along so he decided to just wait in the room. His parents had come again and were overjoyed to see him awake. They were going to accompany to him to see the doctors and such. In the meantime, he tried to catch up on his homework.

 

\----

 

“Excuse me.”

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, we’re talking to you.”

Hyeop spun around to see three girls standing behind him with unhappy faces. All he wanted to do was find a quiet place in the school to sit and relax during the break.

Ever since his first day, he’d purposefully tried to avoid contact with the other students. The only reason he’d even come to this school in the first place was to put on an act for his fiancee. After the wedding, he was planning on dropping out and doing private lessons again. He’d probably have to wear his disguise for even that but at least it was better than interacting with real people.

“What is it?” Shuffling his feet uneasily, he had a sudden feeling this wasn’t going to go well.

“We heard you were asking about Park Jihoon.” The girl in the center narrowed her eyes. Ugh, how did that get around, he thought to himself.

“We know everything there is to know about Park Jihoon.” Another girl added as if reading his mind. “We’re his number one fans. We’re in charge of his fanclub.”

“So what’s with your interest in him? Going to join his fanclub?” The first girl folded her arms. Seems she wasn’t fond of that idea. Hyeop wasn’t fond of it either. He had no need to join a bunch of obsessed lunatics.

“Just so you know, he’s already with Guanlin, so don’t even think of getting your hopes up.”

“Not that he deserves him.” The third one muttered. Immediately, the second one turned on her. “What did you just say about my Guanlin?”

“Listen to yourself! You’re a traitor to Jihoon. Just be a solo Guanlin fan then, eh? You can’t do both!”

Hyeop’s eyes widened when they started to physically fight each other. It was time to scram the fuck out of here.

“Knock it off, guys!” As the first one tried to get things under control, he slowly backed away.

“Hey, we’re not done with you!”

Frightened, he turned to run but something catches his hair. His wig, he silently reminded himself. Ow, oh fuck, that hurt! It was still clipped to his head.

“Let go!” Crying out, he stopped in his tracks to prevent his wig from tearing off. One of the girls had grabbed a chunk of it.

“Hey! What’re you guys doing?” A new voice rang out. Hyeop saw Daehwi emerge from around the corner. He wasn’t sure if he was being saved or not.

“It’s Daehwi,” the girls hissed to each other. They exchanged looks and nods. The girl let go of his hair and stood back.

“Let’s go.” With a glare, the three girls walked away as if nothing had ever happened. Sighing with relief, he tried to straighten his hair so it looked normal again.

“Hyemi, are you okay? Why were they bothering you?” Daehwi’s worried expression was so cute. He was really a soft boy, like an otter.

“Yes, I’m fine now, thanks.” He squeaked out after checking his disguise over. Didn’t want to blow his cover.

“Wah, the girls at our school are really something else.” Daehwi starred in the direction they went. Hyeop just nodded, suddenly feeling drained. Maybe he’d go home early.

“So you didn’t say what that was all about?”

“Oh, um,” Hyeop laughed nervously. “Just girl stuff. You wouldn’t want to know.” It was weird to be using the excuse his sister had used on him countless times. At least it came in handy though. Being a girl was too hard sometimes.

“Really, because that looked like a fight.” Daehwi was staring at him just a little too hard. He opened his mouth to speak again but Hyeop cut him off. It wasn’t good when Daehwi started to get chatty. He’d start to ask too many questions that Hyeop wasn’t allowed to answer.

“Yeah, so I gotta go now. Not feeling too well.” Hyeop spun on his heels and speed walked to the nurse’s office. He was sure he could feel Daehwi’s eyes burning into his back.

 

\----

 

Daehwi watched Hyemi leave at the fastest speed her legs could take her. He’d wanted to ask her more about Baejin’s family and his status as an heir but she’d clearly been in no mood to talk. There was also that altercation with the other girls earlier as well. He wasn’t stupid enough to write that off as girl talk. Everything had a second meaning.

He supposed that he’d have to look up the three girls later. But for now, his focus had shifted from Baejin to Hyemi. He wondered why he hadn’t questioned her before but now that he thought about it, everything about her was suspicious. Her sudden smooth transfer, her supposed heiress status, and her mysterious knowledge of Baejin just screamed something shady. It was time to start doing some digging on her too.

He sat down on some steps and pulled out his phone. On Naver, he typed in Kwon Hyemi’s name in the search bar. There weren’t too many relevant results but there was something about her family. Their parents had been married for twenty years and it was their mother, not their father who was the CEO. She reportedly had a twin brother who was currently studying abroad in the United States. He’d left around two years ago, the same time that Hyemi had come back from studying in the United States.

Fortunately for him, the name of the academy was listed. Also fortunately for him, he could speak fluent English. The unfortunate part was that there would likely be confidentiality policies again. Hmm, how to get around that, he wondered. Checking the time, he realized he’d have to try again later due to the time difference.

Going home, he realized he felt a little lonely. All he’d been doing lately was spying on Baejin. Even Samuel stopped messaging him as frequently. But in fairness, all Daehwi ever talked about was Baejin. He wished there were someone else he could speak to about his investigations.

“Excuse me.”

“Oh, sorry.” Apologizing, he moved over to make room. He looked up to see someone familiar. It was Yoo Seonho from the other first year class. Their eyes met and a strange feeling came over him. It was one of those moments when you run into a friend of a friend.

Instead of moving past him, Seonho plopped down to take a seat next to him. “Hey, I feel like we have a lot of friends in common. We should be friends, because I’m friends with everyone.”

“Sure,” he shrugged. “I need someone to talk to anyways.” Daehwi was really glad this wasn’t awkward at all. No wonder he was such a social butterfly.

“Sure, what’s on your mind?” His gaze traveled to the phone in his hand.

“Well, can you keep a secret?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hyeop lives a hard life.  
> I feel like the next couple of chapters might be a little dry until we move onto the big action again so bear with me. My outline is nearing the end of this story but Jinhwi's fate is still undecided for now. I might do a sequel but I'm not sure what kind of plot to do yet. So I guess we'll just wait and see ^^


	20. June

On Monday, Guanlin went to school for the first time since the accident. He turned in his stack of homework to a dismal Kahi. When he asked her what was wrong, she said that she didn’t want to grade all of his work. 

He’d almost said, “But you’re the one who assigned it,” but he held his tongue. With a sigh, she took a red marker and wrote a giant B across the first page. 

“Why didn’t I get an A if you’re not going to look at it?” He dared to ask. Not even sparing him another glance, she responded, “Because you just asked that question. Now go sit down.” 

Without another word, he headed to his seat. It wasn’t so bad, he tried to console himself. A B was good enough. 

On his desk were a few letters with hearts and stickers. Confused, he turned to Seonho. 

“What are these?”

“Oh, I think they’re from your fans. Some people thought that you got hurt too since you didn’t come back to school either.” 

“No talking, Seonho.” 

Seonho mouthed that they should talk later before they faced the front again. 

 

\----

 

“Hello?”

“Yes, hello, this is the American Scholarship Foundation,” Daehwi answered, making up an organization. “I’d like to inform Hyeop Kwon that he has won our annual scholarship.”

“I’m sorry, did you say Hyeop Kwon?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Butterflies squeezed at his stomach. Was his lie too obvious?

“There’s no student at our school by that name.”

“Excuse me?” He blurted out then tried to retain his professional image. “Are you certain you don’t have a male high school student named Hyeop Kwon?”

“Yes, I’m certain. You must have the wrong school.” 

“Wait!” But it was too late, they’d hung up. He hadn’t gotten a chance to ask about Hyemi yet. They supposedly attended the same school but at different times. 

More importantly though, it appeared that Hyeop wasn’t even at the school. That crossed off another person that he could’ve potentially pumped for information. It was time to go to the next person. 

 

“Kwon Hyemi? Yeah, I know her. She’s my cousin,” the tall model replied. Daehwi had gone to Baejin’s classroom to find Kwon Hyunbin. He was supposedly related to Hyemi and Hyeop. 

“Have you seen her at school?”

“Uh, I don’t think so?” He squinted as if trying to recall. “We weren’t that close and I haven’t seen her in years. She was off studying in America.” 

“I see. Thanks for the info.” He scampered off leaving the bewildered model behind. 

 

\----

 

As soon as Kahi dismissed the class, Guanlin ran out of the room with his things already packed up. Instead of taking the subway, he called a taxi to the hospital. Jihoon was waiting for him and he didn’t want to waste a single minute of their time together. 

His door was open but as soon as he walked in, he was shocked by the colorful decorations. 

“Come on over, Guanlin!” Nurse Sejeong gestured. Slowly, he came to the center of the room where Jihoon was sitting in his wheelchair. He was grinning up at him with a plate of cake in his lap. 

“What’s going on, guys?” Guanlin’s first thought was that the hospital must really be going all out for Jihoon’s dischargement day. This theory was disproven in the next five seconds. 

“We’re celebrating my belated birthday. Surprise!” Jihoon playfully blew on a streamer. 

Guanlin froze in guilt and shock. He’d never asked when his birthday was. He hadn’t brought a present. 

“What’s with that face? Don’t tell me you didn’t know your own boyfriend’s birthday?” Nurse Sejeong teased him, handing him a slice of cake. 

“Um, no, I just, yeah, happy birthday!” Jihoon laughed at him flustering to answer. 

“It’s okay, Linlin. I know I never told you. Actually my birthday happened last week when I was out in the coma.” 

“But you never said anything when you woke up.”

“Ah, well, I couldn’t find the right timing.” He shyly covered his face with his hands.

“But your parents came by. They didn’t say anything.” Wow, he felt really bad now. So much for his good impression. But Jihoon kept smiling. 

“They probably forgot too. Try the cake. I hope you like chocolate.” 

“Who doesn’t?” He tried a bite. It was good. The box on the table said Paris Baguette. Ah, as expected of them. But he still felt bad about not knowing his birthday.

“I’ll definitely get you a present so just wait for it,” he promised. 

No matter how much he said not to worry about it, Guanlin wouldn’t be convinced. It was his sweet sixteen and he was going to get a gift. Now he just had come up with something good enough. 

After half an hour had passed, Jihoon’s parents came in to take him home. They had already celebrated and ate cake with him earlier that morning. The day before, Jihoon had been cleared to be discharged. His leg and ribs would take a while to heal but they were on the right path. His brain scans came back with no major issues which was like a miracle. He was just supposed to exercise great caution. For now he’d be in the wheelchair but possibly in a week or two, he could move to crutches if physical therapy went well. 

Jihoon’s parents were elated at the good diagnosis and had invited Guanlin to help take him home. They’d said he could join them for dinner too. It was quite exciting on all ends. 

“Though I’m sorry, we had to meet on such circumstances, it was nice to meet you both.” Nurse Sejeong said as she embraced each of them in a hug. “Take care of yourself so I don’t see you here again.” 

They waved her goodbye as Guanlin wheeled Jihoon to the elevator. His parents had gone ahead to get the car ready. Looking down at Jihoon’s head, he reached out to pet his fluffy hair.

“What are you doing?” Jihoon tilted his head back to look up at him. 

“Nothing.” Pulling his hand back, the corners of lips went up. Just a week ago, he’d been feeling so upset and uncertain. Now he was in the happiest place of his life. 

They exited the elevator and went out to the driveway where Jihoon’s parents were waiting. Mr. Park took care of the wheelchair after Guanlin had lifted Jihoon out. The two of them sat in the van while Mrs. Park happily chatted with them from the front seat. 

After a while, they arrived at their home on the outskirts of Seoul. It seemed small but cozy from the front. Guanlin prepared to carry Jihoon up the steps to the front door.

“Guanlin, this is really embarrassing.” He looked down at the blushing boy in his arms. “But it’s necessary. Your leg is broken,” he stated in a matter of factly way. 

“Yeah, but we’re at the front door now. I can go in the wheelchair now.” Guanlin wasn’t sure why he was pushing so hard to get out of his arms. It only made him want to refuse his requests. He couldn’t let Jihoon get his way all the time, right?

Mrs. Park unlocked the door first and Guanlin strode right in with Jihoon squirming in his arms. 

“If you move like that, you’ll only re-injure yourself.” He warned him. Plus he kind of didn’t want to let him go. 

“Which way is your room?” After kicking off his shoes, he looked around the hall. With a sigh of defeat, Jihoon pointed to the right. 

“Wait, what about my shoes too?” He protested once he started moving again. 

“My hands are full,” Guanlin shrugged. 

Thankfully, his room door was already open so he didn’t have to struggle. He had a feeling that even if he’d ask Jihoon to open it, he’d make him put him down. 

First he gently sat him down on the bed in the corner, then he surveyed the room. It was an average size but brightly decorated. The sheets were tie dye and matched with the neon orange rug. 

“Guanlin, my shoes.” He turned back to Jihoon who dangled his feet up expectantly. 

“Okay, okay.” Bending down, he carefully slipped them off. He took note of how his laces matched his rug. 

“I’ll be right back so don’t go anywhere.” Jihoon rolled his eyes at the joke. Quickly, Guanlin bounced down the hall. He set the shoes on the rack next to his own. A sudden thought struck him that if they lived together, he’d see this sight all the time. 

“Guanlin?” 

Startled, he whirled around to see Mrs. Park. “Is spaghetti alright with you for dinner?” 

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Great. Dinner will be ready in half an hour.” Nodding, he turned to go back to Jihoon. “By the way, Guanlin,” her sharp eyes gleamed at him. “I think you’re a very responsible upstanding boy. I would hate for you to ruin that image of yourself.” 

“I understand. Will be responsible.” And Guanlin meant it. They could possibly be his parents in law so he didn’t want to mess anything up. Wait, wasn’t he thinking too far? With a timid smile, he bounded back to Jihoon’s room. He’d have time to think about the future later. 

When he returned back to Jihoon, there was a sullen look on his face. 

“What’s wrong?”

“You left me for too long.” His eyes looked away as his lips pouted. Guanlin came over to sit down next to him. Reaching up, he ran his fingers through his hair again. 

“I wasn’t aware you needed so much attention.” Letting out a chuckle, Jihoon only sniffed in response.

“Well, you do now.” Guanlin was suddenly distracted by picture frames on his desk and walls. They were from his childhood. Some were family photos and others were by himself. 

“Ahhh! Don’t look at those!” Jihoon tried to stop him but Guanlin was faster, and more importantly, he could walk.

“Awww! Look how cute you were!” He held up a frame for him to see but Jihoon had rolled onto his belly with his face down moaning into the blankets. 

“It’s so embarrassing.” 

Guanlin thought he was really cute. Even as a kid, his cheeks were cherry red and pudgy. In every photo, he had a happy smile which warmed his heart. He was glad that Jihoon had such a good childhood. 

 

\----

 

It was lunch time again and Daehwi was staring out into the distance. Baejin was sitting under a tree, eating his lunch by himself. This time, Daehwi wasn’t actively trying to spy on him. He just missed him a lot. He wondered what could possibly be going on in that huge head of his. 

Suddenly, Baejin glanced up and their eyes met. Daehwi tried to crack a friendly smile and waved. They should at least try to be friendly, right? 

His spirits plummeted when Baejin only looked away. His hands were clenched in fists. Within seconds, he packed up his things and vanished out of Daehwi’s sight. 

The scenery started to blur and with a start, he realized it was because tears were starting to form. How embarrassing.

From the corner of his eye, he saw blurry figures coming up to him. Quickly, he shook his head and tried to wipe them away. 

“Daehwi, what’s wrong?” It was too late. Woojin had already seen his tears. Hyungseob followed right behind him. 

“Is it about Jinyoung again?” Just the sound of his name made Daehwi wanna cry again. A firm hand rubbed his back.

“It’s okay to let it out.” Woojin tried to comfort him. Hyungseob also had a concerned look. “Try not to take it too personally. Jinyoung’s always been aloof even to me and Heeseok. The only one he ever really opened up with was with you and Jihoon.”

“But then why does he treat me like this?” Daehwi sniffled. Woojin handed him a tissue from his pocket. Gratefully, he took it to blow his nose.

“I don’t think it’s right either. He’ll definitely regret it.” Hyungseob agreed with a frown. 

“I won’t tell you to give up but maybe you should approach this from another angle. It seems like you’re not getting anywhere right now.” Woojin’s words made Daehwi want to confess what he was actually up to. He’d already spilled to Seonho so what was the harm in telling two more people?

“Well, actually, I’ve been doing some investigating,” he slowly confessed. Hesitantly, he plucked at the grass. The two of them leaned forward, clearly interested. 

“Did you guys know that Jinyoung hyung is an heir to the Emerald Star company? They own hotel resorts.” They shook their heads with wide eyes. 

“Wah, really? I would’ve never believed it.” Hyungseob breathed. Woojin made a  _ kkkk _ sound shaking his head. “You really can’t tell these days.”

“But that hotel sounds kinda familiar?” Cocking his head, Hyungseob tried to think of where it was he heard of it. 

“Ah! That’s the hotel Justin has to go to this weekend!” Woojin and Daehwi only gave him confused looks.

“Justin and his family were invited to some kind of event at that hotel. His family is from China and they’re really wealthy. Apparently a lot of other high class people are also going to this event too.”

“Is he the blonde kid that always gets driven to school?” Daehwi had a vague memory of him. He definitely seemed like a rich international student. 

“Yeah, I ended up hanging out with him a lot. Long story,” he made a face that said not to ask. Anyways, I would ask him for the details but he flew back to China recently. Let me ask Jungjung when he’s coming back.” 

As Hyungseob used his phone to message, Daehwi squeezed his fingers together. It could be an outlier but it could also be something important. He had to take all of the chances he got.

“Ah, he said Justin’s supposed to come back on Friday. I guess we’ll have to wait until then.” Disappointed, Hyungseob flopped down on his back with a pout. Woojin plucked a stray leaf out of his hair. It was a simple act, but one that felt like there was more meaning behind it. 

Daehwi’s eyes met Woojin’s and in that instance, his suspicions were confirmed. Woojin tried to shake his head but he was too late from stopping Daehwi from speaking.

“Good luck.” 

“Good luck on what?” Hyungseob responded absentmindedly. He didn’t even look glance over. 

“Ow!” Woojin had pinched his thigh.  They glared at each other. 

“It’s nothing,” he muttered, plotting to interrogate Woojin later. Nothing slipped past him anymore these days. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We made it to chapter 20 and have over 100 kudos! Thanks to everyone still reading my soap opera <3


	21. Daehwi-o

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today is a long chapter to celebrate the weekend!

The next day Jihoon was finally able to come back to school after a long week absence. He was still wheelchair bound so Guanlin came early to help wheel him to class. To their great annoyance, they realized that Mnet High didn’t have an elevator in their building, or so they thought. 

Yumi had come to greet Jihoon as well. Though neither of them had ever had her for a teacher, their immediate impression was that she was wonderfully nice. She’d been so sympathetic and worried for him. But the main reason she’d come was to give them a special pass to the staff elevator. 

“I didn’t know we had such a thing.” Jihoon looked at the pass in his hands, slightly suspicious. Guanlin was just glad he didn’t have to carry Jihoon up the steps. Though he liked the excuse to carry him, his arms were getting sore from doing it so often. 

“Well, it’s a secret, so don’t tell anyone or lose it.” With a cheerful smile, she showed them over to where the elevator was. After saying goodbye to her, they went up to the next floor. 

As Guanlin wheeled him around the corner, they ran into Daehwi coming from the other way. Halting, they exchanged awkward smiles. Jihoon hadn’t seen Daehwi since the time he’d asked him about Baejin. Guanlin couldn’t remember if they’d ever spoken but he knew who he was. 

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Well, recovery is slow for now. I’m just trying to adjust after being asleep for so long.” 

“Ah, I see.” There was an awkward pause. 

“Actually, do you know which class Kwon Hyemi is in?.” Jihoon saw his eyes become wide and he wasn’t sure why. 

“Uh, yeah, it’s that way,” he answered pointing, then smacked his forehead as if he regretted it. Jihoon and Guanlin exchanged glances that wondered why he was being so weird. 

“Thanks, we’ll see you later.” Guanlin took his cue and headed forth again.  

\----

 

As soon as the pair passed him, Daehwi pulled his phone out of his pocket to call someone.

“Hello?” 

“Jihoon’s looking for you. You should probably-”

The line went dead before he could say anymore. Shaking his head, he was still mystified as to why she wanted to avoid him. 

 

_ *Flashback* _

“So, is there something you want?” 

She snapped her fingers startling him again. “You catch on real fast. I need you to do me a favor if the need should ever arise…”

Immediately, he nodded his head. He’d do anything to get close to Baejin again. 

“Done.” 

“If Park Jihoon ever says he’s looking for me, I need you to tell me.”

“Wait, but why?” His eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. She shook her head impatiently. 

“You don’t need to know why. All you need to know is that I don’t want him to see me. So promise me you’ll do this before I give you the information.” 

“Well, okay but I need your phone number.” 

“Here.” They traded phones. 

“Call me, don’t text. It’s very important.” 

_ *End Flashback* _

 

\----

 

The second after Hyeop ended the call, he jumped out of his chair. Gathering his books, he stuffed them into his backpack hastily. He couldn’t let Jihoon see his face. From his pocket, he pulled out a face mask to put on. It would have to do for now. 

His options were to hide in the girls bathroom, hide in the nurse’s office, or go home. For now he decided to go with the nurse’s office. Peering out into the hall, his eyes darted around for any signs of Jihoon. With only girls in sight, he speed walked out with a sharp focus on making it to the nurse. 

As he was about to turn another corner, he spotted a tall boy pushing a wheelchair, but most importantly, Jihoon was in that wheelchair. Whipping his head back, he clung to the wall, hoping that they hadn’t seen him. 

With that exit blocked, he had no choice but to turn back to where he came. Panicking, he completely forgot that there was a stairwell at the other end. Instead, his mind focused on the windows. It was only the second floor, he couldn’t die, right? Plus he was wearing shorts underneath his skirt so no worries about flashing. 

The wheelchair sounds came closer causing him to lose all rational thought. He swung the window open and tumbled down the lower roof. The shingles scratched his skin and he landed on the grass below with a hard thump. Thankfully, he hadn’t seem to have broken anything. 

Looking up to where he had just come from, he saw the tall boy through the window. He hastily scurried around the building and out of sight. His uniform was torn and dirty with dust and dirt. There were leaves in his hair too. It was probably best to go home for the day. After calling his driver, he waited by the school gate, ignoring bypassers’ curious looks. 

If Jihoon was coming back to school then it might be too dangerous to go back until the wedding was over. He couldn’t risk blowing his cover. 

 

\----

 

Daehwi heard later that day, that Hyemi had left school early. He guessed that she had managed to successfully escape Jihoon. As the week passed by, she was reported absent. What was also suspicious was Baejin was as well. 

“I think something’s up,” Seonho said as he punched the plastic straw into his juice box. The two of them were sitting together for lunch. After Daehwi had spilled his story to Seonho, he’d felt like a huge weight had been taken off his chest. It was good to share his worries with someone who understood what he was going through. 

“Yeah, me too. Justin’s supposed to come back to Seoul tonight so we’ll definitely know if there’s something going on tomorrow or not.” Daehwi took a bite of fish. Hyungseob had promised to tell him right away when he received the news. He didn’t know the older student very well but he hung out with his favorite hyungs and he seemed like a good person. Woojin clearly seemed to like him so he’d cross his fingers that it would work out for him. He knew Woojin was the kind of person to have bad luck especially with love. 

“Why don’t you just ask him? Is he really that tight lipped?” 

Daehwi just heaved a sigh at that question. “You don’t know how frustrating he can be.” 

There was a moment of silence as they chewed their food. Daehwi was starting to think it might really be hopeless at this point. How many weeks had it been since he last talked to Baejin. Their last conversation had been on the phone and he didn’t really want to remember it. 

“What if we just corner him and force him to talk?”  

“No, he just runs away before I can even get close to him.” 

“You should show up at his house and tell his parents you’re his friend so then he can’t escape.” Seonho was clearly thinking hard.

“But I don’t know his address. And he’s an heir. What if his parents aren’t even home? What if they’re unfriendly.” His head dangled lowly. 

“The address is no problem. My noona works for the police. She can get us his information.” 

“Is that even okay to do?” Daehwi stared at him in disbelief. Seonho nodded as seriously as he could. 

“Yeah, she’s really cool. I wanna be a detective like her too. That’s why your case is so fun for me.”

“Glad you enjoy my problems,” he grumbled back but without malice. Ignoring him, Seonho pulled out his phone to make a call.

“Noona? It’s me.” 

“You’re really going to ask her?” Daehwi mouthed in alarm. He hadn’t thought Seonho would actually go through with the idea.

“Mm, actually, I was wondering if you can do a small favor for me?” There was an angry high pitched voice on the other end. Daehwi could only make out things like ‘brat’ and ‘mess.’

“I know that last time didn’t turn out that great but really-”

“No, I’m really sorry about it, really! I promise I’m not getting up to any trouble this time.” 

“Noona?” 

Suddenly. Seonho scrambled for his bag. In a flurry, he tore out a notebook and pen and hastily scribbled something down.

“Thanks so much. I love you so much. Noona?” 

Seonho looked at his phone. 

“Oh, guess she had to go. But anyways, I got it!” He held the paper up triumphantly. 

“Yay?” Daehwi hesitantly clapped. He wasn’t sure if this was a good idea or not. Making phone calls and internet searches were one thing but actually going onto someone’s property was another. 

“So let’s meet tonight at eight.”

 

\----

 

Daehwi thought that this really was a bad idea. It was dark so he had some trouble finding the address. As he had walked through the neighborhood, he was awestruck by how nice these homes were. Most of the houses were gated which made him think that meeting Baejin would be impossible. Plus wouldn’t there be a lot of security? He felt like the trespasser he was.

“Psst, Daehwi!” 

A dark shadowy figure hissed at him from the corner of his eye. Frightened, he jumped with his hand over his heart.

“Oh! You scared me!” He scolded, swatting at him as he came over. Seonho giggled lowly as Daehwi checked out his all black attire of sweats and a hoodie. 

“What are you wearing? You look like a criminal,” he scolded again to which he just shrugged. He himself was only wearing jeans and a tee shirt. 

“So you ready to go? It’s that one over there.” 

Taking a deep breath, Daehwi marched up to the intercom with Seonho in tow behind him. Crossing his fingers, he pressed the button. 

_ Ring… Ring…  _

“Hello?”

“Yes, we’d like to see Jinyoung hyung. We’re friends of his.” The unidentified female voice that answered made him nervous. It was too young to be his mother so it was likely a maid. 

“May I ask who’s asking for him?”

Daehwi looked at Seonho for help. He knew if Baejin knew it was them, they’d be turned away.

“We wanted to surprise him.” Seonho tried. Daehwi nodded vigorously. 

“One moment, please.” 

They held their breath as they waited.

“Good excuse,” he mumbled to Seonho. “Thanks.” The speaker suddenly buzzed again.

“I’m sorry but Jinyoung said he won’t be seeing any visitors at this.” The speaker abruptly cut off and the night was quiet again. The two of them stepped away from the intercom, disappointed. 

Daehwi sat down on the stone steps with a sigh. He should’ve known it wouldn’t have worked. Guess he just had to wait for whatever the thing was with Justin. 

“Hmm.” Seonho stared at the rock wall fence with a concentrated expression. 

“Let’s just go home, Se-” Suddenly, Seonho leapt up onto the wall. Gripping the wall, he swung his leg onto the top of it. 

“What are you doing?!” Daehwi whisper-shouted. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Seonho was being an actual trespasser. 

“What are you waiting for? You’re not gonna get an invitation.” He wriggled on top then disappeared over the edge. Daehwi heard a thud, securing him on the other side. Looking both ways to make sure no one was watching, he backed up and gave a running jump. 

The rocks were rough on his hands but he gritted his teeth and hauled himself over the top. On the other side, he saw Seonho waiting for him with open arms.

“I’ll catch you!” 

Daehwi nodded then hopped down. The two of them crashed to the ground with another loud thud. 

“Owww,” Seonho moaned beneath him. He had cushioned Daehwi’s fall at the expense of his own health. 

“Don’t say you’re going to catch me if you can’t do it.” Daehwi rolled his eyes as he got up. 

“You’re heavier than I thought.” He complained, rubbing his head. “Guanlin’s taller than you but he weighs less. Explain that.” 

“Shh!” Daehwi scanned the yard to see if anyone had caught them yet. He finally got a good view of the house and it was larger than he’d expected. Chaebols were really on another level. 

“What’s our plan now?” Seonho had crept up beside him. He turned to look at him with exasperation.

“That’s what I was gonna ask you.” They looked at each other blankly. 

“Break into the house?” Daehwi pushed him over. 

“Okay, sorry, uh, I can act as the lookout and you look for Baejin?” The idea wasn’t half bad. Since they had gone this far already, might as well pull through with it. The problem was finding where Baejin’s room was in that mansion. 

 

Daehwi:

_ 20:23 Look outside your window _

 

He crossed his fingers that Baejin would actually do what he said. Impatiently, he stared up at the second floor windows. To his great relief, Baejin’s head popped outside of a window that was in his view. Now he didn’t have to try all sides of the house to find his bedroom.

“Jinyoung hyung!” He called, staring up. Baejin shot him an annoyed look and put his finger to his mouth. His phone buzzed making him look down. 

 

<3 Jinyoung hyung <3

_ 20:25 Why are you here? _

 

Daehwi looked back up to Baejin who had his arms folded sternly. With a pout, he typed back.

 

Daehwi:

_ 20:26 I wanted to see you ^^  _

 

<3 Jinyoung hyung <3

_ 20:26 Well I don’t want to see you _

 

Daehwi:

_ 20:27 Why can’t you tell me what’s going on with you? _

_ 20:27 I know there’s something wrong _

 

<3 Jinyoung hyung <3

_ 20:28 Nothing’s wrong so go home _

 

Daehwi:

_ 20:28 I don’t believe you _

_ 20:29 Jinyoung hyung always lies to me TT _

 

There wasn’t an immediate response so he looked up. What he saw made his heart sink. Baejin was closing the window. In nanoseconds, the curtain was draped over and it was like he was never there. Daehwi didn’t know whether he wanted to cry again or smash a rock through his window. How could this boy be so frustrating?

“Daehwi!” Seonho ran over, panting. “It’s time to go.” 

With a sorrowful nod, the two of them scaled the wall again, back the way they came. On the street side, they decided to head for a convenience store so they weren’t loitering around the neighborhood. 

Seonho bought two bowls of ramen while Daehwi only got banana milk. He wasn’t hungry. The two of them sat by themselves at the counter. 

“So, did you talk with him?” Seonho split the chopsticks with his teeth as he prepared his ramen. Sighing, he pulled out his phone to show him the text messages. As he looked at the screen, he was startled to see unread messages.

 

<3 Jinyoung hyung <3

_ 20:32 128-5 XXX 1(il)-dong, XX-Gu, Seoul _

_ 20:32 13:00 June 0X, 2017 _

_ 20:32 If you still can’t give up, go to this place tomorrow _

 

“What is it?” Seonho peered over with noodles dangling from his mouth. 

“Another mystery,” Daehwi’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the address and date. He wasn’t familiar with the location but now he had a feeling that this might be Justin's event. 

“Still waiting on Justin’s information?”

“Yeah,” he sighed then sipped his drink. Seonho had finished one bowl and tossed the remains in the trash. The second one he put back in the plastic bag. Daehwi almost choked on his drink. He hadn’t known the kid for very long but he knew that he ate everything.

“You’re not going to eat it?” Seonho looked at him as if he were crazy.

“Of course I am. But I’m going to bring it back to the dorm since it’s getting late. Are you going home too?”

“Well, I guess,” he replied lamely. 

“Hey, do you wanna sleep over? Guanlin’s sleeping over at Jihoon’s so my room is all empty.” 

“Sure, why not.” Daehwi didn’t really want to be alone tonight either. Quickly, he texted his mom for permission to which she gave an okay. 

The two of them headed to his dorm via subway. On the way, Daehwi realized he’d actually never been to the dorms. Upon arrival, the building looked pretty stereotypically like a dorm house. Seonho unlocked the door and brought him over to his room. For a Friday night, the place was pretty quiet. Or they were all just out partying. 

“Ah, let me ask Guanlin if it’s okay for you to use his bed.” Seonho and Guanlin’s room was neatly divided down the middle. Guanlin’s side was very neat and basic while Seonho’s was a little messier with snacks stashed in every corner. There were soft lights hanging from his wall. 

“Hey Linlin.” 

“Ah, Seonho, what’s up?” The phone was on speaker and Daehwi could hear him yawn. 

“I’m with Daehwi right now and you’re on speaker.” 

“Hi,” Daehwi shyly responded, as Seonho unwrapped his second ramen bowl.

“So I invited him to sleep over for the night since Operation Daehwi-o and Jinyoungliette didn’t work. Is it okay for him to use your bed?”

“Yeah, no problem. Sorry to hear it didn’t work out.”

“Actually is Jihoon there?” Daehwi asked, suddenly remembering something. 

“He’s asleep right now. Went to bed early. Why?”

“Oh, well, I wanted to ask him why he wanted to see Hyemi back on Tuesday.”

“Ah, about that. He told me that he was childhood friends with her and her twin.” 

Daehwi’s interest spiked. So was that the reason, why she had wanted to avoid him?

“Oh? I’ve met with her a few times. If I sent you a picture would Jihoon be able to recognize her?” He scrolled through his own phone’s pictures to find the photo he had secretly taken of her. 

“Probably. I’ll ask him in the morning though.” 

After a few more minutes of chatting, they ended the call. Seonho had already inhaled his noodles again so the two of them played around for a while before going to bed. 

As Daehwi pulled the unfamiliar covers up, there was a sense of tension in his gut, like a strange sense of foreboding. He hoped it was only an upset stomach as he closed his eyes. He didn’t know how much more drama he could take. 


	22. Run for the Roses

_ Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. _

Blearily blinking his eyes open, Daehwi saw an unfamiliar ceiling. Turning over, there was Seonho still sound asleep in his bed. Oh, that’s right. He was in Guanlin’s bed because he’d slept over for the night. 

_ Buzz. Buzz. _

His phone was vibrating nonstop on the nightstand next to him. He reached over to check what was going on. The time read 10:12. They’d slept for almost nine hours. His attention then moved onto the messages. 

 

9:57 (1) missed call

9:59 (2) missed calls

10:02 (3) missed calls

 

Woojin:

_ 10:07 HEY WAKE UP _

_ 10:07 One attachment _

_ 10:08 YOUR BOY IS GETTING MARRIED _

 

Quickly, Daehwi opened the attached document. He didn’t understand what was going on until he saw what it was. 

 

_ We invite you to celebrate _

_ Bae Jinyoung and Kwon Hyemi’s Wedding _

_ June 0X, 2017 _

_ 13:00 _

_ 128-5 XXX 1(il)-dong, XX-Gu, Seoul _

_ Please RSVP your number of attendance _

 

Rubbing his eyes, he blinked a few times to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. This was what they’d been up to all this time? Daehwi felt strangely calm despite the weird twist of events. It was almost expected, he thought to himself, after all the investigation he’d done. They were both chaebol heirs and they’d obviously known each other. 

The address on the invitation seemed suspiciously familiar. With a dreadful feeling in his gut, he double checked the information that Baejin had sent him the night before. As he thought, it was the exact same. He’d invited him to his own wedding without even telling him that was what it was. 

His phone buzzed again and this time it was another call from Woojin. He picked it up.

“Dude, did you see? What are you going to do?” Woojin’s voice sounded rushed. 

“I,” Daehwi paused trying to think of what to say. Was there even anything to say in this kind of situation? He couldn’t feel anything, not sorrow, not anger. Just emptiness. Everything folded into place. This was why Baejin hadn’t wanted to have a public relationship. He’d already been engaged this whole time. 

“I don’t know. I don’t know what to do.” Daehwi truly wasn’t sure what he should do. He didn’t even know what he should feel. From what he’d seen, it didn’t seem like Hyemi or Baejin loved each other. It was most likely an arranged marriage between their families. But that didn’t mean he had the right to go and stop their wedding. Baejin hadn’t even had the courage to tell him so maybe he didn’t even want him to do so. But then why had he invited him? Daehwi didn’t think he was the kind of person who would want to rub his marriage into his face. 

“You’re not just gonna let him get away with this right?” Woojin interrupted his thoughts. There was some whispering he couldn’t hear. He must be with Hyungseob, Daehwi thought to himself. He wondered if they’d also had a sleepover. 

“Come on, Daehwi. First he dumped you and now he didn’t even tell you he was engaged this whole time?” The disgust was dripping from his voice. “If I were you, I’d march over there and give him a piece of my mind.” 

Before he could answer, another phone rang in the room. 

“Ah!” Seonho shot upright in his bed, startled. His head swung around wildly before finding his phone. Looking up at Daehwi, he mouthed, “It’s Guanlin” before answering. 

“Hello?”

“Daehwi?” He was taken back to his own phone conversation. 

“Yeah, sorry. Seonho just woke up.” The two of them sat across from each other while on their own phones. Seonho’s hair was sticking up at all ends. 

“What? Really?”

“Aren’t you angry? He like, betrayed you.”

“No, but are you sure? No mistake?”

“I know but if this was something he really wanted, then it seems wrong to interrupt.” 

The two different conversations filled the room making it hard to concentrate on who was speaking. 

“Hold on, I’m gonna put you on speaker so Daehwi can hear this too.” 

Hearing this, Daehwi said, “Woojin, can you hold for a few minutes?” After getting his agreement, Daehwi put down his phone and leaned forward to listen to Guanlin. 

“Hello, Daehwi?” The voice on the other end turned out to be Jihoon. 

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“Are you sure the picture you sent me was Kwon Hyemi?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I know this is gonna sound weird but that’s Hyeop.” 

There was a moment of silence as Daehwi tried to process what he was saying. It didn’t work. 

“What?”

There was a deep breath before Jihoon said, “I think that Hyeop is pretending to be his sister. Because I know for a fact that that face was Hyeop’s and not Hyemi.” He continued on to say how he had looked through his old yearbooks to make sure this conclusion was right. Daehwi was still trying to recover from this second shock. 

“So, why is Hyeop pretending to be Hyemi? What’s been going on since I got into the accident?” Quickly, Daehwi caught him up on the past two week’s events including the new information about the wedding.

“Um, they can’t get married.” Jihoon finally said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, after Daehwi was done explaining. “I mean, it’s basically fraud.”

“Yeah, we should get going if the wedding is at one. We gotta stop them before they sign the papers,” Seonho added. 

Though he’d been uncertain about what to do before, Daehwi knew this mess had gotten way out of hand. He picked the call with Woojin and Hyungseob back up and informed them that Hyemi was a lie and they were going to crash the wedding. Jihoon and Guanlin had also said they wanted to come as well. 

“Cool, we’ll tell Justin we’re coming then. Let’s meet at the place at one then.” Woojin and Jihoon both hung up on their lines leaving just Daehwi and Seonho alone. 

The two of them rushed to get dressed. It was past 11 am at this point and they needed to hurry if they wanted to make it on time. Seonho pulled out a pile of clothes from his drawers and told Daehwi to wear whatever he wanted. He reached in for a blue shirt when suddenly Seonho yelled.

“Ah! Not that one, sorry.” He gave him a weird look as Seonho took it back and tucked it under his pillow. There wasn’t any time to ask or he would’ve. 

“Weshoo ag mingi oo raiu au,” Seonho stuffed his mouth with some bread that had been stashed in one of his corners. 

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” 

“I said, we should ask Minki to drive us. It’ll be faster.” Daehwi nodded. “Oh, good idea.”

The two of them went over to Minki and Dongho’s room and knocked. Thankfully the two of them were home, lounging in pajamas. Daehwi got another shock when he discovered that the scary looking guy lived here too. It was best to avoid eye contact with him. 

“I’d love to help you guys but I only have a truck so only one person can go.” Minki said after they ran through a short summary of the events. Surprisingly, neither of them seemed that surprise by the wedding or the fact that Hyemi was actually her brother. 

Seonho and Daehwi looked at each other in despair. “I guess you should be the one to go.” Seonho said dully. “I’ll just catch up later on the subway.” 

“I’m sorry, I wish you could go too.” Daehwi truly was sorry. He didn’t really want to go alone either. 

“Hey, there’s a big van that just pulled up out in front. Are any of you guys expecting guests?” Jonghyun’s head popped in the doorway. He was dressed with his bag and looked like he’d just gotten back from something. 

Seonho suddenly looked down at his phone. “Oh? Guanlin says to come outside.” 

Daehwi tried to stay away from Dongho. Though he didn’t dare look directly at him, he could feel his gaze burning at him and he didn’t like it. 

They were soon joined by Minhyun who’d also come to see what the fuss was all about. The six of them padded outside to check out who had come to the dorm. The van was shiny black and looked new. As soon as they stepped outside, the door slid open and Guanlin popped out. 

“Guanlin? What are you doing? Why are you there?” Seonho spoke for all of them. From inside, Jihoon waved from his seat. Their attire matched Daehwi’s own, casual and mismatched. 

“Yeah, so apparently, Justin got us a van to take us to the wedding. At least that’s what that guy says.” Shrugging, he gestured toward the driver who was wearing sunglasses and nodded coolly. 

“Justin already picked up Woojin and Hyungseob.” Jihoon called out. As Guanlin moved out of the way, it became obvious why Jihoon didn’t get out of his seat. A neon pink cast attracted everyone’s gaze. There was already a signature but no one had to guess whose that was. 

“How many can you take?” Jonghyun peered inside the van. The interior was beautiful with leather plush seats and an extensive lighting and sound system. Unfortunately, they could only take five more people as Jihoon’s wheelchair was stored at the front seat.

Under the time pressure, they ultimately decided Dongho and Minki would have to follow behind in their own car. Daehwi felt immense relief at this news. He wouldn’t have been able to relax at all if Dongho had shared the same car with him. It would’ve been a nightmare if they sat next to each other too. 

He and Jonghyun climbed into the two seats behind Guanlin and Jihoon while Seonho had claimed the back seats with Minhyun. Seonho was obviously pleased with this development as he excitedly tugged on Minhyun’s arm. Minhyun on the other hand, shot a sulky glare at Jonghyun who only smiled and patted his back as a reply. 

“Seonho, I know you like me a lot, but just a little space please.” Minhyun whined after the car started up. Glancing back, Daehwi saw Minhyun squeezed into the corner with Seonho leaning heavily on him. Though three people could sit in the back, the two of them were squished onto one seat. 

Looking further back through the rear window, he saw Minki and Dongho’s truck following closely behind. His phone buzzed, making him sit back down. 

 

Woojin:

_ 12:11 We’re with Justin. We’ll probably arrive before you do so just tell the staff you’re with Huang Minghao’s party. _

 

As Daehwi sent him a reply, his stomach growled reminding him he hadn’t eaten anything yet. Hearing that, Jihoon reached over to pass him a plastic bag full of convenience store snacks. Grateful, his hand reached out to take it but Jihoon’s face suddenly scrunched up in pain. Instantly Guanlin grabbed the bag from him and tossed it to Daehwi. 

“Did you hurt yourself again?” Guanlin held his hand while checking him over. 

“No,” Jihoon responded through gritted teeth, holding his side. Guanlin suddenly bent down and there was a zipper sound followed by rattling. He opened a medicine bottle and dumped out two pills and handed them to Jihoon. Then he grabbed a water bottle from the side, opened it, and held it out to him too. 

“Linlin, I’m fine, really.” Jihoon’s protests were clearly not fooling anyone. Even Jonghyun was monitoring the situation quietly from his seat. Guanlin merely shook the bottle with a fierce stare until Jihoon gave up and took it. 

The whole exchange fascinated Daehwi but also made him jealous. He hadn’t seen the two of them together up close since the accident. While he was happier, they’d managed to clear their issues between them, he wished he and Baejin could do the same thing. It felt like being single on Valentine’s day in the car. Guanlin and Jihoon were being lovey dovey in the front and Seonho and Minhyun were doing skinship in the back. Even Woojin and Hyungseob who weren’t even in the same car with him, had their pairing. The only other single person was Jonghyun who was on his laptop doing business, Daehwi guessed. He didn’t know when he had the time to pack that. But it wasn’t like Jonghyun was the kind of person to date anyone seriously so he didn’t count. Sighing, he just thought to himself that he wanted Baejin to come to his senses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me too Daehwi.   
> who else misses huang minghao bc I do. I'm gonna write a yuehua thing sometime too.


	23. The Wedding (Crashers)

“We’re going to be late.” Daehwi gripped the seat in front of him tightly in anxiety. The car was moving very slowly through midday traffic.

“It’s only 12:48.” Jonghyun checked his watch. No one else looked too concerned but that was probably because they didn’t have anything at stake unlike him.

“But we’re not there yet,” Daehwi tried to say as calmly as possible. Woojin had already texted him five minutes ago that they’d arrived and gone in.

“Isn’t it that building up there?” Jihoon pointed down the road. A tall white building stood out from the rest. Daehwi watched impatiently, as the car slowly crept closer. At one point, he thought it might’ve been quicker to just get out and walk.

Finally, they pulled up through the fancy broad driveway. It was crowded with other cars and wedding guests. Daehwi could tell at once that it was a five star hotel but he didn’t have time to admire its polishings. He hopped over Guanlin, throwing the van door open. Seonho, Minhyun, and Jonghyun were right behind him while Guanlin set up the wheelchair for Jihoon.

“You guys, go on ahead,” Jihoon called but they needed no encouragement. The four of them were already racing to the door. The time was a few minutes past one and there were a few other guests trickling in late as well. However, once they reached the doors, they were held up by staff.

“Uh, we’re with Huang Minghao?” Daehwi scanned the area to see if Woojin and his crew were still around.

The staff looked at the group with raised eyebrows then looked back down at their clipboards. “I only have two down for Huang Minghao’s party.”

Shit, Daehwi cursed in his head. He didn’t like cursing but sometimes there were just situations that called for it. He’d forgotten to tell Woojin that there were six of them coming instead of just him and Seonho.

“We’re a bit unexpected but surely you can spare a few seats?” Jonghyun smiled politely but the staff were not taking it.

“I apologize but we can only let in the recorded number of guests into the church.” A couple passed by the group with a disapproving frown at their attire. Everyone else was dressed formally for the occasion but Daehwi’s crew looked like street urchins. Only Jonghyun was semi decent. The staff took the couple’s names and let them in with a pleasant smile.

Daehwi felt like screaming. The wedding would already be starting by now and they were wasting time out here.

“What if Jonghyun and I just go in?” He asked them desperately. He’d picked Jonghyun over Seonho just for his level headedness. It was a little mean to say but Jonghyun was just a little more reliable.

They were about to discuss when four more people joined them. Guanlin who was wheeling Jihoon, and Dongho and Minki who’d finally arrived. The two of them had fallen behind during the drive but they’d luckily caught up.

“What’s the hold up?” Dongho asked gruffly, looking at the unhappy faces. “Can’t we get in?”

“No,” Daehwi moaned, upset. Immediately, Dongho stared down at the staff who seemed to shrink under his gaze.

“What do you mean? We’re part of the guests. We were personally invited by Bae Jinyoung as his friends.” Dongho’s tone got lower and more threatening as he continued. The staff clutched their clipboards and seemed visibly nervous.

Daehwi thought it was a little cool when he wasn’t the target. Daring to steal a glance at him, Dongho smiled back at him softly. It was unexpectedly tender which made him whip his head back really fast.

“Okay, just go.” With that, the staff waived them in. As quickly and quietly as possible, the group slid into some empty seats in the back. Guanlin sat on the end with Jihoon next to the pew. A few rows in front of them, Hyungseob, Woojin, and Justin turned around to wave at them. Daehwi recognized two other boys sitting with them. He didn’t know their names but he was pretty sure they also went to Mnet High.

Thankfully, they hadn’t missed much. The flower girls had just finished going down the aisle and now the bridesmaids were following.

Daehwi spotted Baejin standing by the altar. His heart skipped a beat when he saw how handsome he looked. He was well dressed in a fine suit and his bangs were slicked to the sides. Just then, their eyes met. His heart stopped and he braced himself for Baejin to turn away and pretend he hadn’t seen him. His fist clenched in preparation for rejection but he was surprised once again.

Baejin actually smiled at him in a sly manner. Daehwi’s mouth almost dropped. He couldn’t remember the last time he had smiled at him. What did this mean? Was he happy that he came?

The music suddenly changed and everyone stood up cutting off their connection. It was time for the bride to walk down the aisle. Daehwi craned his head as he tried to get a glimpse of Hyeop. The first thing he saw was a long white gown, then Hyeop’s face came into view. It was hard to believe that he was a guy all along. His makeup was beautifully done and the gown had been tailored in a way that imitated a female figure. He was escorted by an older man whom Daehwi assumed to be his father.

He was about to push his way forward to expose Hyeop when an arm grasped his shoulder and firmly held him in place. His head swung back to see Minhyun who shook his head and silently mouthed, “Wait.” With a scowl, he reluctantly stayed in his place.

Meanwhile, Hyeop’s gaze was directed down their row. His face suddenly paled so Daehwi turned to see what he had been staring at. Jihoon had moved himself forward to see better and had made eye contact with Hyeop. The two of them seemed frozen in an interlocking stare. Then Hyeop’s father tugged at his arm. He turned back and proceeded down the aisle but at a noticeably faster pace than before. Some murmurs spread through the crowd.

Finally, he reached the altar and everyone proceeded to be seated. Every couple of seconds, Hyeop’s eyes would come back to where Daehwi’s crew was sitting. His hands were clasped tightly although an unknowing guest could mistake that for wedding nerves. Baejin didn’t seem to be able to hide the sly smile he had shown earlier. Both of them seemed to know what was going to happen next.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the beginnings of a union. It is a beautiful union forged by mutual love and respect between Kwon Hyemi and Bae Jinyoung.” The officiant’s speech made Daehwi’s stomach churn. He couldn’t stand this anymore. Before he knew it, his feet were standing. This time, Minhyun couldn’t stop him.

“Daehwi.” He heard Woojin’s voice call him but it didn’t register with him.

As if in a trance, he marched down the aisle with his fists clenched. He couldn’t hold it in any longer. He couldn’t bear to watch this farce. Murmurs spread as people became aware of him. He didn’t care what they thought. They were ignorant of the truth that he was about to reveal momentarily.

“Stop the wedding!” His shout came out a little weak. It felt as unstable as his own emotions but it was enough to make people look at him.

The officiant looked flabbergasted. From the corner of his eye, Daehwi saw staff moving so he sped up his pace. But he had no need to worry as his own crew began to move as well. Minki and Dongho held back security while Jonghyun and Minhyun formed another barricade.

“Stop the wedding!” He repeated in a firmer tone. His footsteps came down harder as he came closer to the altar. Hyeop’s face was pinched in pain while Baejin’s seemed unreadable. All the other guests were confused but not a single one stood up to stop him.

“Young man! Just what do you think you’re doing?” The officiant was thoroughly offended now but Daehwi didn’t care. He marched right up to Kwon Hyeop as people continued to whisper. He made no move to avoid Daehwi as if he’d given up.

“This person who you think is Kwon Hyemi is a lie!” He announced to the audience. “She’s actually a boy!”

With a swift move, Daehwi grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked down. Unfortunately, the wig didn’t come off as easily as he thought. For a split second of panic, he thought he might’ve made a mistake. What would he do if Jihoon’s information had been wrong? He’d already humiliated their wedding in front of all these people. But he tried tugging again and there was a slight give.

“Ow! Ow!” Hyeop’s cries finally reached his ears. “Stop, I’ll do it myself!” Smacking away Daehwi’s hand, Hyeop reached through his hair and unpinned the wig. With a scowl, he tossed it away. It flopped to the floor and he looked at it contemptuously.

There were more gasps and murmurs as the truth was revealed. “This person is actually Kwon Hyeop!”

A woman who sat at the front row paled then turned scarlet red. Another woman sitting next to her abruptly stood up and glared at her.

“What is this? Are you trying to make fools of us?”

Daehwi checked Baejin’s expression which was also full of astonishment but seemed to also be relieved. Upon meeting his eyes, he gave a small shrug and grin.

“Ahem,” Hyeop suddenly cleared his throat, bringing back attention to himself. His cheeks were also bright red.

“It is true that I am Hyeop and not my sister, Hyemi. But more importantly, the one that I love is not Bae Jinyoung but Park Jihoon!” Hyeop pointed to the back where Jihoon sat. Everyone turned to look at him which made him hide his face in his hands.

It was Daehwi’s turn to be shocked although this was a wild enough situation. Anything could happen here. In fact, this was a perfect situation.

“I also have something to say.” Daehwi spoke gaining the crowd’s attention back again. “I am in love with Bae Jinyoung.” He suddenly reached out to pull Baejin who had saucers for eyes, closer to him. His arms wrapped around his waist, holding him tight.

“No one else lights up my world like he does. I love him with my whole heart and soul no matter what he does to me. I won’t let anyone take him away from me again.”

Whether it was the adrenaline in his system or his burning love, he was spurred on by an urge to kiss him. Before, Baejin could run away, Daehwi roughly pulled the back of his head down for a kiss. It was far from their sweet kisses from months ago when he’d known nothing about him. Daehwi wanted this kiss to leave a lasting impression on him, to remind him that he would never give up, that he would always be here.

As he slowly drew back, the realization suddenly him that there had been no resistance from Baejin. But there was scarcely time to comprehend what was going on as the audience erupted into chatter.

Suddenly, something clasped his hand. Startled, he looked down to see that Baejin had taken it. It was the first time, he’d voluntarily held his hand. Tears started to fill his eyes but he held them back. Though he faced so many unfriendly opposing faces, he felt like he could do anything as long as it was for Baejin.

 

\----

 

From the back of the room. Dongho shouted, “I like Daehwi a lot!” But no one heard him among the ensuing chaos. “You’re an idiot,” Minki told him flatly, smacking the back of his head. Dongho rubbed his head with a glare. “What? Everyone else is confessing too.”

“Hmph.” Minki turned his head away but not before muttering something under his breath.

“What did you say, Minki?”

“Nothing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're slowly getting closer to the end which makes me want to drag it out lol. I don't like writing endings bc I'm sad it's over.  
> On the brightside, I have some other works in mind to do once I'm done. For those of you who read and enjoy the pick me series, thanks so much for your support! ^_^


	24. Face to Face

The wedding hall was in utter chaos and Daehwi was almost tempted to revel in the mischief he caused. His attention was caught by Baejin who pulled him along. The two of them snuck along the side and disappeared out a back door. 

“Wait, where are we going?” Daehwi sped up to avoid his wrist being pulled too hard. There was a little pep in Baejin’s steps. Clearly, someone was happy about having their wedding ruined. Finally the two entered what looked like a small dressing room. There was a mirror and a rack of clothes and empty hangers. 

Baejin turned to look at him with a huge grin. Daehwi did not give one back. Instead he crossed his arms and frowned but even that didn’t seem to deter his enthusiasm. 

“Wah, I can’t believe you actually did it!” He gushed with great hand motions. “Did you see the look on Ms. Kwon’s face? She was so embarrassed. But my mother too, wow, she was so pissed.”

“Yah, are you being serious right now?” Daehwi was starting to be really upset. His adrenaline rush was wearing off and even the previous excitement of Baejin finally holding his hand couldn’t keep his spirits high. There was a bigger issue between them that they hadn’t talked through. Had he just conveniently forgotten everything that happened between them? How he’d hurt him?

“What, why? Aren’t you happy I’m not marrying Hyemi? Oh, I guess she’s actually Hyeop.” He frowned then shrugged. “I had no idea about that by the way. How did you even find out?” 

“The same way I found out you were a chaebol heir,” Daehwi muttered. His gut twisted unhappily. 

“What are you talking about? Did you spy on me?” Baejin scowled and his eyes glinted dangerously. That was it.

“How else was I supposed to reach you?!” Daehwi exploded. “You wouldn’t talk to me, you wouldn’t tell me anything. What else was I supposed to do?”

Tears were forming again and he hated it. How many times had he cried in front of him? Was it going to be a never ending cycle of chasing him, getting false hope, and then getting hurt again?

“I love you so much. You know I would do anything for you. No matter how much it’s hurt, I will always want to stand by you.”

Daehwi couldn’t stop the tears from pouring down his face and misting his vision. It was fine. He didn’t want to see Baejin’s face anyways. He couldn’t bear to see what kind of expression would be on it. 

“Daehwi, I’m-” Baejin started but he cut him off. 

“Aren’t you just looking down on me?! You only used me so you could get out of your arranged marriage, right? You knew that I would come no matter what.” Choking on his sobs, he was unable to continue. His legs felt weak and tingly so he crouched down and rested his forehead on his knees. 

“What am I to you?” A strained whisper crept out of his hoarse voice. Daehwi was suddenly tired, so tired of this. Only silence answered him and he was afraid that Baejin wouldn’t say anything like usual. 

“I’m sorry.”

Jerking his head up, Daehwi wiped his eyes to make sure he was hearing correctly. 

“I’m sorry,” Baejin repeated. He searched his face for another trick but only found sincerity. “I know that you’ve been hurting and I know that it’s all my fault.” Baejin crouched then sat down on the floor to match him. 

“All I can really say is I’m sorry.” The two of them were facing each other yet their gazes didn’t meet.

“It’s not good enough,” Daehwi sniffed. 

“I know that too. I know I’m such a piece of trash, just garbage, the absolute worst.” His head turned slightly away as his hands curled into fists. “Why would you still like me when I’m really like this?”

“It’s because I love you, you idiot!” Daehwi cried in exasperation. “You’re not perfect and neither am I. Jinyoung is only Jinyoung with all your virtues and your flaws. And even though it can be hard, I still love all of you.”

“It’s hard?” Their eyes met and Daehwi swallowed. He had to let everything out now. He didn’t think there’d be another chance.

“Yeah, it is hard sometimes. Truthfully, loving you is a bit suffocating,” he admitted but didn’t turn away. Baejin’s eyebrows were drawn in almost a shameful way. His ears were pink.

“Just stop then,” he mumbled. “No one’s forcing you to like me.” His shoulders drooped and his frame seemed small. As he studied him, Daehwi thought there was a great sense of loneliness about him. He seemed ready for Daehwi to leave any minute. 

“You’re right,” Daehwi agreed making Baejin’s head whip up in alarm. “No one is forcing me. I want to love you of my own free will. I’m not going to ask for your love in return. I only wish that you would trust me.” 

“Won’t it be painful if I say that I just want to be friends?”

Daehwi took a deep breath. “Yeah, it will but that’s what I’ll put up with because I love you and loving you means never giving up.” There’s another pause as Baejin seems to be in deep contemplation. He wondered if he was finally getting through to his thick headed brain. 

“No one’s really said that to me before,” Baejin finally responded. “Everyone seems to leave in the end. I was sure that you would too.”

“No way,” Daehwi protested. “Let me prove it to you.” Finally, he could start to see his walls cracking. He just had to get him to stop thinking on his own and see what he was trying to tell him. 

“I don’t really know. I feel confused.” Seeing him wavering, Daehwi knew it was time to advance. He wouldn’t let him run away again.

“Please tell me your answer now.”

 

\----

 

Out in the wedding hall, the chaos has ended as staff slowly regained control. Ms. Bae and Ms. Kwon had disappeared as well, leaving the guests to mill about, confused. Gossip ran rampant through the crowd about what had happened. There was faint shouting from another room. 

Hyeop, who’d been left at the altar, approached Jihoon’s crew. He’d picked up the wig since it was simply too expensive to leave on the floor. Plus, he’d never admit this to anyone, but after months of wearing it, he’d grown attached to it. 

Still wearing his white dress, he bravely made eye contact with Jihoon whom he’d confessed to just minutes ago. Guanlin stood behind the wheelchair with a wary glance. Both his hands were tight around the wheelchair handles. 

“Hello,.” He bowed to introduce himself. “My real identity is Kwon Hyeop. I’m sorry for the sudden confession earlier. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other.” 

“Er, yeah, nice to meet you again, Hyeop.” Jihoon smiled but the atmosphere was awkward and tense. Hyeop could feel Guanlin’s eyes narrowing at him. 

“Ah, I don’t think we’ve really met although I know who you are. You’re Jihoon’s boyfriend, Guanlin, right?” At the mention of ‘boyfriend,’ their expressions changed.

“Yeah, I know I never had a chance. I just wanted to confess to my longtime childhood crush. It just felt like I’d never get the opportunity.” Though he brushed it off with a shrug, it still stung a bit to have to admit his own rejection. At least his puppy crush that he’d harbored for years could finally end today. 

“Nice to meet you, Hyeop.” Guanlin finally smiled, now that his position was no longer threatened. “You look just like you did when you were a kid.” 

At Hyeop’s confused expression, Jihoon explained that they’d gone through their old yearbook when they were figuring out his real identity. The two of them reminisced shortly about their childhood days.

“But I’ve been meaning to ask,” Jihoon continued after a laugh. “Where’s Hyemi? Why did you pretend to be her?”

Hyeop’s stomach dropped although he’d been prepared for this question. Taking a deep breath, he said that she had passed away two years ago of an incurable illness. Immediately, they expressed their sympathies. There was a sad awkward pause before Seonho rambunctiously came up to them. 

“Are you really a boy?” 

“Yes.” Hyeop felt his face turn red as the boy looked him up and down. He wanted to change soon. 

“But if you were getting married, how were you gonna keep up the disguise? You know at night?” Seonho made some abstract gestures then raised his eyebrows as if conveying a secret message. 

“Um, I don’t know. I never really thought about it.” Hyeop scratched his head, embarrassed. He’d left a lot of this stuff up to his mom. Thankfully, Seonho didn’t dwell on the topic for too long.

 

\----

 

“Excuse me, I’m going to need you to come with us.” Dongho turned to see two broad shouldered men in suits stand before him. They seemed like they were staff but gave off a different aura. 

“Uh, yeah sure.” The kids seemed okay for now so he left them behind and followed the men to an office room.

“Have a seat.” One of them gestured to a chair in front of a desk. The other sat down in it. The name plate read Do Minjoon. 

“Let us introduce ourselves. Our company is SecuriTea.” The man sitting in front of him pulled out a name card and handed it to him. Just then the other men placed a cup of hot tea in front of him.

“Are you a college student?”

“No, I’m a third year in high school.” Dongho was starting to get a little nervous. Maybe they upset at the ruckus that his group had caused earlier. But Minhyun, Minki, and Jonghyun had held back the staff too. Why was he the only one who got called out?

“Really? Well you look older than you are. I don’t suppose high schoolers are allowed part time jobs?”

“Pardon?” 

“Frankly, we’d like to offer you a job with us. You handled the staff pretty well and you look the part.” 

Dongho was not expecting this. He had no idea what to say.

“Oh, that’s um, that’s great, yeah.”

Suddenly a hand grabbed his shoulder. Startled, he turned around to see Minki who did not look amused. 

“Sorry, but he’d suck at this job.” Bewildered, Dongho just let Minki drag him out of the office back to the hall. The place was starting to clear out. Jonghyun had gathered all the kids in a circle and they went to join him. 

“Let’s go out to lunch, guys. It’ll be my treat.” Jonghyun smiled a sunny smile that made everyone feel energetic. 

“I have some dietary restrictions. I’m allergic to poor food,” Justin informed everyone. Woojin rolled his eyes. His arm was linked with Hyungseob’s. Seonho was also clinging onto Minhyun. 

“Is it okay if I come too?” Hyeop nervously asked from the corner. He was timidly standing by Guanlin and Jihoon. 

“Of course,” Jonghyun responded. “The more the merrier.” Then he turned to Justin and spoke in a lower tone. “We can use your cars again, right?”

“Wait, where’s Daehwi? And Jinyoung? We can’t go without them.” Seonho frantically looked around. 

“Maybe we should just go without them.” Woojin spoke up with a contemplative expression. “Yeah, they probably have a lot to sort out,” Jihoon agreed. Just then Daehwi popped out from around the corner, noticeably alone. 

“Daehwi, we’re all going for lunch. Wanna join us?” Seonho motioned for him to come over. But Daehwi stayed where he was.

“No, that’s okay. Actually, I’ve got some stuff I need to do so go on without me.” Seonho opened his mouth again but Minhyun covered it with his hand. 

“Okay then, good luck.” Everyone exchanged glances except for Seonho who couldn’t read the mood. 

“Ow, Minhyun hyung, why-” He was cut off again and dragged off with the rest of the group. Daehwi watched them go before turning back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I took so long with this. It was a little difficult to write so I don't think it came out that well. There's probably only two more chapters left and I'm gonna try to finish them before exam season starts up again.


	25. The Only One

Daehwi felt a little bad that he didn’t go with his friends, but he really did need to sort some stuff out. He felt that he was so close to achieving his goal with Baejin. He just had one last obstacle in the way. 

Baejin emerged after the group left and nodded at him. Wordless, he led him to the large banquet hall where the reception was meant to be. His mother and stepfather were already waiting at a table, their expressions, unhappy. 

Clenching his hands, his nerves returned but he tried to calm himself. He reminded himself what this was all for. 

 

*Flashback*

“Please tell me your answer now.”

After a moment of hesitation, Baejin responded, “Let’s start over. Let’s things the proper way.” 

“What does that mean?” His eyebrows scrunched in confusion. 

“Let’s be friends again like we were when school first started and everything was new. Then we can work our way up to wherever we want to be.” Daehwi mulled over his words while staring into his serious eyes. He was about to agree when Baejin spoke again. 

“And you’ll have to meet my parents and get their approval too.” This was unexpected although Daehwi knew that he should’ve expected it the moment he learned that he was an heir. 

“My mother is really strict so she might intimidate you. It’s okay if you want to give up after hearing her.” There was a kind of challenge in his voice, as if to dare him. After all he had gone through, Daehwi wasn’t going to let a stern mother scare him away.

“Don’t worry. I’ll try my best to impress your parents.” The corners of Baejin’s lips quirked up. “But you should do your best too.”

*End Flashback*

 

The two of them took their seats across from Mrs. and Mr.Bae. Baejin’s mother was clearly not in a good mood after being tricked and humiliated by the Kwon family. Mr.Bae on the other hand, kept nervously glancing towards Baejin. 

“Hello, my name is Lee Daehwi.” He introduced himself to try to break the tension. Mrs.Bae sighed. “Yes, we know who you are. What we want to know, is what you’re doing here.” She shot her son a glare. 

Daehwi took a deep breath before saying, “I want to date your son, Jinyoung.” No one was surprised which made him slightly flustered. 

“If you won’t let me date your son, then I’ll dig up more secrets about your family and expose them.” His threat made Baejin turn to him in surprise. 

“What are you doing?” He whispered, giving his arm a slight shake. But Daehwi was undeterred. “You already know I’m capable of doing so.”

Mrs.Bae leaned forward with narrowed eyes, her lips twisted in a scowl. “Yes, you demonstrated that perfectly today, by ruining my son’s wedding.” 

“But honey, it was fortunate after all, that that boy did that. We would’ve been in such a pinch, had the wedding gone through.” He put his hand on her arm. 

For a second, Daehwi thought she was going to argue with him but then she put her other hand over his. 

“You’re absolutely right, honey. However, this doesn’t mean we have to accept him as our son’s boyfriend. Our son needs to marry someone of his own caliber.” Baejin groaned before she even finished speaking.

“Mother, please. I don’t want another arranged marriage.” 

“No, Jinyoung. You don’t know what you want. You’re too young so I will do it for you.” Mother and son glowered at each other with crackling tension. Poor Mr.Bae looked like he was suffocating under anxiety. He wrung his hands anxiously. 

“Now, now. Let’s not feud in front of a guest, shall we?” 

“He’s hardly a guest.” Mrs.Bae scoffed. “He trespassed on our property once. Don’t think I don’t know about that.” She shot an additional glare at Daehwi this time. 

He didn’t even have time to apologize before Baejin started to argue with his mother. He’d never seen him so agitated and active. 

“Enough!” She pressed her fingers to her temple with closed eyes. “I want everyone except Daehwi to leave this room right now.”

“But Mo-”

“Now Jinyoung. Before I open my eyes.” Reluctantly, Jinyoung and his stepfather existed the room. Before he left though, he mouthed “Good luck” to him. It filled Daehwi with warmth and confidence. 

Now it was just Daehwi and Mrs.Bae in the room. She folded her arms on the table and looked at him squarely. 

“Do you plan to marry my son?” The question caught him off guard. 

“What?” 

She let out a sigh of irritation. “Do you want to marry him?”

“I, I hadn’t thought about that. It’s a little too far in the future.” Daehwi twisted his fingers anxiously. 

“Well, I’m going to tell you right now that you can’t marry him. My son needs to marry someone of his own social status and your background check tells me you’re clearly not that person.” 

“Excuse me?” Daehwi felt a little stung. Sure, he knew there was a socioeconomic gap between them but to have it pointed out so bluntly hurt. 

“It’s not like Jinyoung was born into this social status, though.” He tried to point out and reason with her. 

“That’s precisely why he has to do it. Do you realize how hard it is to adjust to this luxurious lifestyle? I tried my best to adjust Jinyoung but he just didn’t adapt well.” She exhaled slowly. “That boy gives me a headache with how difficult and unruly he is.” 

An idea suddenly struck Daehwi. It wasn’t likely to work but he’d try it anyways. 

“What if by dating me, Jinyoung becomes more mannerly and well behaved?” 

“Well, I don’t see how that would happen. He’s always been the same ever since I remarried.” Mrs.Bae frowned and looked at her watch. Panic started to rise, but he fought it down. 

“I would sincerely do my best to care for your son and make him a better person. Trust me, I know first hand how troublesome he is. It wouldn’t hurt to let us date and see if it makes him happy. Have you ever really seen him happy?”

Daehwi pressed on and for the first time, Mrs.Bae seemed uncomfortable. 

“I know he could be happy with me,” he insisted, seeing her hesitate. There was silence as he crossed his fingers under the table. 

“I will be monitoring you two at all times.” She finally spoke, her expression unchanged. Hope leapt in his heart. 

“You mean?”

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying you can marry him. We’ll just see how it goes and if at any time, I think it’s inappropriate then I will be removing you from my son.” Her harsh words had no effect on his enthusiasm. Jumping up he was about to bolt out the door before he remembered to bow and say thank you. It took all of his effort to contain his excitement until he was out of the room. 

Seeing Baejin leaning against the wall, he couldn’t help but jump up and wrap him in a hug. Startled, instinctively, he threw his hands up but Daehwi pushed them down in a crushing hug. 

“What’s this? Did you get approval?” Baejin was astonished. He obviously hadn’t expected success. 

“Kind of.” Daehwi grinned at him, feeling as though he could fly. All of his suffering had been for this. 

“Let’s go to lunch. I’ll tell you all about it.” He held out his hand. At first, Baejin just stared at it so Daehwi faltered. Maybe it was too soon if they were going to start over from scratch. But then Baejin surprised him by wrapping his arm around his shoulder. 

“Let’s go.” He turned to him with a smile. With a light heart, the two of them walked out of the hotel. Though fragile and delicate, at last they had a real relationship with no secrets or pretenses. Daehwi wasn’t sure what the future would hold in store for them, but he was sure they could get through anything now. He couldn’t imagine anyone else for him and he was sure that he was the only one for Jinyoung as well. 


	26. Epilogue

The following week, the school was abuzz with gossip. New Club had multiple posts on the affairs of the cancelled wedding as well as Hyeop’s reveal as a boy. Gunhee had decided to go against Boa’s orders and posted all his data on Hyeop. He was convinced it was the best expose of his photography career. 

Hyeop made the transfer from the girls section to the boys. As a second year, he ended up in Don Mills class with Jihoon. Although he was slightly awkward at first, he slowly warmed up to the other boys and started to make friends. The girls were angry with him for deceiving them. It got to the point where he had to hide from their sight. But eventually, they forgave him and even re-friended him again. Hyeop turned out to be one of the most popular kids in school. 

Guanlin and Jihoon continued their relationship as Jihoon continued to heal. Guanlin watched over him every day and frequently came over to his house. Jihoon’s parents absolutely loved him. They treated him as if he were his own son which made them the second set of parents to do so. Jihoon’s prognosis was good and he was able to use crutches after summer break started. The two of them planned to go on a double date with Daehwi and Jinyoung after exams were over. 

Daehwi and Jinyoung’s relationship was as complicated as ever but they were communicating properly this time. Though they weren’t technically dating yet, everyone knew they were a pair. It was so different from the months before, when they had to hide everything. It still made Baejin embarrassed sometimes but Daehwi was slowly learning how to respond to his behaviors. Instead of being mad or frustrated at him, he tried to work with him to understand what was wrong. Baejin was also putting effort in as well, to not be so shy and secretive. 

Woojin and Hyungseob was another pair that wasn’t officially together but everyone knew was a thing. Well, everyone except Hyungseob. Daehwi had asked Woojin when he was gonna tell him. Woojin had just shrugged and said when the timing was right. Daehwi just sighed and shook his head at him. Despite all his talks about being manly, he was still like this. 

There were some other couples that went unnoticed as well. Well, more like unrequited crushes. Minhyun had still refused to acknowledge Seonho despite his best efforts. And Dongho remained clueless as ever. He was still trying to get over Daehwi, who still didn’t know about this, without much success. 

As exams ended and school closed up for the summer, there was much talk about travel plans. Dongho and Minki said they were going on a road trip for some soul searching. Minhyun was planning to return home. Daehwi was going to spend as much time with Baejin as he could before going to Brand New summer camp with Woojin, Youngmin, and Donghyun. Guanlin was planning a belated birthday surprise for Jihoon. And there were boys who got summer jobs to make money. 

The boys were excited for a fun summer and then a fresh beginning in the fall. After all, there couldn’t be anything more dramatic than the events in the spring semester, right? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, thank you for your patience. At long last, my fic is finally finished TT   
> I hope you enjoyed this roller coaster of a drama.   
> Thank you to all my readers and commenters especially my regulars. Y'all provided me a lot of motivation and support.   
> I won't be doing a direct sequel yet. Instead, I'm going to do some oneshots about the kids and their pairings. I'll start posting them sometime soon.   
> Once again, thank you for supporting my first major fic and motivating me to actually finish. I love Wanna One and all the kids from produce!


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